Kingdom Hearts Remake 1: RetCon Version
by nightelf37
Summary: This is a retcon version of my original Kingdom Hearts Remake 1. I realized my 'canon' was straying away and decided to make this new story as some might still read the old one. I'll make one of my Chain of Memories soon, including the Reverse/Rebirth. COMPLETE
1. Prologue: The Awakening

nightelf37: Okay. I'm gonna start my "Kingdom Hearts Remake 1: Retcon Version"…now.

Prologue: Awakening

Part I. Prior Events (1)

_Someone from the Neopets Agency, an organization that works behind the scenes keeping order in Neopia against outside sources, was conspiring with a strange individual. This individual wore a cloak completely concealing their identity, save for a badge which was an orange circle, with an open book colored in blue and white inside it._

_"May I ask why do you need our agents?", the one from the NA asked._

_"I feel that our enemy is on the attack and can threaten our forces **and** the safety of Neopia itself, as well as a lot more worlds.", the Story Crew member said. "To take down this threat, we feel it has to be done now at this stage."_

_"I see. I trust they'll be safe?"_

_"…Should they be in a bind that they can't get out of no matter what they do, we'll get them out."_

_"I turst you'll do that."_

_"I give you my word."_

Part II. The Paths

I don't know how or why, but when I came to, I was on a green circular platform with a triangle with 3 circles in its edges colored red, blue, and yellow respectively. I also wore a blue T-shirt with a yin-yang decal, denim jeans, blue sneakers, a pair of glasses (I wear glasses), blue sneakers, and black fingerless gloves. All of a sudden, I heard a voice call out to me.

_Much to do. Little time to do them. Take your time._

I turned my head all around to find the voice as I tried to comprehend what it said. Take my time? But there was only "so little time", wasn't there? That was contradictory. I was confused and almost frightened by this series of events. What was happening? Why was I here?

_But don't fear. The door is still shut._

_The door? What door?_, I thought.

_Now, walk forward. Can you do it?_

I instantly complied, and to my surprise, I can. After reaching the center of the platform since I was closer to the edge before, the voice began to speak again.

_Power sleeps within you._

Suddenly, a beam of light appeared to my right. I turned my head to look at it, and saw that a stone tablet bearing a pistol and a riot shield had risen up from the part of the floor that the light had touched.

_This feels all too familiar._, I thought.

_If you give it form..._

I spun around to see another beam of light fall upon the surface of the platform to my left, and saw that another stone tablet had appeared, this time bearing what I think was a minigun, a rapid-fire weapon, but since I was no expert in guns, I couldn't identify the model.

_Already, this feels like a non-funny parody of some kind_, I thought.

_...It will give you strength._

Yet another beam of light had appeared and summoned yet another stone tablet from the depths of the flooring. I turned to me front and saw this stone tablet held a shotgun. All four objects spun in place just above the stones. I looked at each of them in turn, baffled, when the voice came once more.

_Choose well._

After a moment's hesitation and thought, I walked forward and stepped toward the platform that held the shotgun. I pulled myself up onto the platform and took the shotgun into my gloved hands.

_Way of the striker. Attacks may be slow, but every shot packs a punch. Is this the power you seek? _

I took a closer look and saw the letters _H A, M D, L S_ on the shotgun. After thinking about it, I decided it wasn't for me. I shook my head, stepped down, then looked at the pistol and shield. I walked to it, stepped up the platform, and took both items, the pistol in my left, the shield on my right. I felt like I once wielded these, but I couldn't remember where.

_Way of the defender. Not much power in attacking, but the shield helps in survival. Is this the power you seek? _

On the shield was _L A, H D, M S_. I looked up into the blackness, perhaps hoping that the owner of the voice would reveal himself. After a moment of empty silence and darkness, I looked at the weapons in my hands and nodded "yes" in reply. The gun and shield instantly vanished from my hands, breaking up into light. I then felt power flow into me; I was absorbing the light of the gun and shield.

_Your path is set. Now... what will you give up in exchange?_

I turned around to look at the remaining two items; the minigun and the shotgun. Give up one power in exchange for my newfound power? This was feeling all too familiar to me. I jumped down the platform that once had the gun and shield and looked at each of the items. What to give up? I was about to head for the shotgun, but I stopped short at the center.

_Hold on a second._, I wondered._ If the shotgun represents attack, and the gun & shield represent defense, what does the machine gun represent?_

My eyes drifted from the to the minigun. I walked toward it, pulled myself onto the platform and, hesitating for a second, took the impressive weapon into my hands.

_Way of the rapid. Every shot is swiftly dealt, but you're more at risk from close attacks. You give up this power? _

The minigun had _M A, L D, H S_ engraved on it. I then thought about it. If I give up the shotgun, I would have below average attack power, average defense power, and probably above average attack speed. On the other hand, if I give up the minigun, I'd have average atack power, above-average defense power, and below-average attack speed. I then wondered why I was thinking like a gamer who thinks about stats. I pondered for thirty seconds, then decided that being defensive was my way. I nodded on giving up the 'way of the rapid'. The minigun shattered into light, and I watched silently as the lights winked out one by one—I wasn't absorbing them this time.

_You have chosen the way of the defensive. You've turned aside the way of the rapid. Is this the path you choose?_

I wondered why the strange voice kept saying aloud what I chose. But once again, I nodded in approval. I turned on my heel, waiting for further orders. Yet as I waited, there was a large jolt that almost knocked me off the gray platform. I looked down to see the platform sinking into the stained glass image. There was another jolt, and I hopped off the platform. I stood up quickly, realizing that the glass, too, was shattering. The pieces flew up around me and vanished into the darkness. I just knew I was gonna fall and when the glass broke beneath me, I was right.

Part III. Learning How To Battle

I was falling fast. There was no light around; I was engulfed in the darkness. I was thinking this was all a dream, but it felt so real. It hasn't lasted longer than any dream I'd ever had before, but I felt it was gonna be longer.

My black hair was fluttering about wildly into my brown eyes as I fell further into the dark. The darkness seemed to last forever—I was getting worried now. I never had such a dream like this. Suddenly, like a ray of hope, I saw a purple square platform with a spiral pattern. I saw I was gonna land on it, but then I realized I was falling so fast I'd probably 'die' from the impact—and wake up if this was a dream, or crash through it.

I was relieved when my fall was slowed and landed safely on the platform. Just then, the pistol and shield appeared in my hands. They were the weapons from the last platform that I have chosen. The shield even had the same engravings on it.

_You've gained the power to fight. Take a shot._

I was surprised by the voice. I then looked at the gun. I hesitated as I didn't know if this would be loud like real guns or how long I would last with what little bullets pistols usually have.

_Don't worry. Your ammunition is infinite and all the weapons are silenced enough not to deafen you._

Feeling assured, I aimed into the blackness and fired. The voice was right.

_Use this power to protect yourself and others._

I was confused from this. Protect others? I was the only one here. Just then, I saw a dark spot appear on the platform. I turned to face it and leaned forward, examining it, watching a strange black shadow-like creature take shape with curious yellow eyes. What was it? Was it dangerous? Would it hurt me? I felt like I've seen them before up close and personal.

_There will be times you have to fight._

As I watched, another spot emerged, and then the creature rose out of its "2D" form and stood before me. I was taken aback and unwittingly took a small step backward. I gripped my weapons tight and watched in shock.

_Keep your light burning strong._

Suddenly, the thing jumped at me to attack. I leapt back, stumbed a little, aimed my gun, and fired. The first shot didn't take him down, so I did another and another. On the third shot, the creature exploded into black mist. The other, similar creatures flattened themselves into the floor and vanished. I spun around several times, checking, making sure there were no more shadow creatures.

_Behind you!_

I was caught off guard again. I spun clockwise—just in time for my shield to block a shadow's attack. I shot once at the head and it vanished with an explosion of darkness. Only one was left. I turned to face it and was about to shoot it when the creature flattened itself into the floor, vanishing into a dark blotch that formed beneath it.

I was taken aback by its sudden appearance. There was a rumbling noise and I turned to see…that there were more of the dark blotches spreading across the platform like a disease. I could do nothing but stand still lest I fall into the darkness.

It didn't matter though, as the dark void appeared right under my feet. I immediately sank into the darkness, gasping in shock as I did so. It felt like quicksand, not that I ever experience sinking in one personally. Everything seemed to move so slow as I felt something cold pulling at my skin, pulling me into some cold, dark void.

As I sank to my waist, I immediately attempted to grab at the platform but it was a little too far. As it reached my neck, I threw up a hand, hoping that somebody would pull me up. It was in vain as the darkness swallowed me up. And I lost consciousness.

Part IV. Questions

When I came to, I realized I was lying on yet another platform. This was pink and shaped like a triangle, and had no other features. I then realized there was a beam of light coming out of the endless darkness at an angle. I 'followed' the light and saw what it was pointing at. There, jutting out of the surface of the platform was a large arched door.

I stood up and walked around the door, examining it, and then stopped right in front of it. It had a beautiful ornate pattern all over it; around the handles, on the edges, where the double doors met… It seemed to be important, though I couldn't find out why. It didn't seem to lead anywhere—just to the other side of itself, unless it acted like a portal of some kind. It was slightly transparent like a hologram, but it was definitely there. I pocketed my gun, put my shield on the platform, placed both hands on the door's surface, and pushed.

Aftr a while, I stopped, thinking it probably doesn't open from my side.

_Now what? There was nothing else there, right?_, I thought.

I turned around—and noticed that another beam of light had appeared. I followed the light column down to where it met the platform, and saw a peculiar red chest. Curious, I walked toward the chest and knelt right next to it. I opened it, only to find a small bag. Sighing, I picked it up and pocketed it. I closed the chest, and turned around to see the door…no longer transparent.

I was getting a strange sense of déjà vu. I approached it and picked up my shield. Just before I could open it, I heard a strange noise 'inside'. I stepped away and it fell silent once more. I looked at the door again, starting from the bottom to the top. and saw the double doors began to part, ever so slowly.

A bright white light was emitted from within, so powerful that I had to shield my eyes from it. The door opened itself wide, inviting me to enter. I remained cautious, and stepped forward, my shield in front.

After a moment, the light faded and when I eased myself, I saw that I was in Neopia. (2) And on top of a turret in Castle Meridell. There were no sentries around, but there were three Neopets facing me.

One of them was an anthropomorphic Yellow Usul in pirate clothes. Notably, he had a red bandanna tied around his forehead. I immediately recognized him as Garin from the "Curse of Maraqua" plot.

The second one was an anthropomorphic Blue Nimmo with brown hair tied in a ponytail, equipped with a water rifle and a backpack full of baby bottles. I then realized this was Lumi, from the game "The Usul Suspects". The third was a regular Yellow Shoyru that I knew quite well. This one was my first Neopet that I adopted under the username nightelf_37; Tychophon.

_Hold on. The door won't open just yet. First, tell me more about yourself._

I grumbled in disappointment as I knew I was still dreaming. Nervous from everyone looking at me, I turned around, and decided to confront the pirate. He looked at me with hardness and wisdom in his eyes.

"What's most important to you?", he asked, his voice clear and humble.

I merely stared back, and saw three answers in front of me. It confused me, but I somehow knew that these were the only ones I was allowed to choose. _Being number one. Friendship. My prize possessions. _I wasn't really social and I'm not the kind to lie when it comes to personal life. And I didn't really care about fame. The last one however, I had to admit it was true. Slowly, I answered.

"My prized possessions." I felt like a jerk after saying that.

"Are your prized possessions such a big deal?" The Usul's expression didn't change as he looked away.

I felt like I disappointed him with my answer, and then I turned to Lumi and faced her. She had the same hardness and wisdom in her face as Garin.

"What are you so afraid of?", she asked, her voice clear as day.

Again, the choices appeared in my head. _Getting old. Being different. Being indecisive. _I knew I was different, being autistic, but I wsn't afraid of it. And getting old, I already submitted to the fact that it's normal for everyone. I couldn't decide on any of them though, then realized I was indecisive. Sighing in defeat, I answered the question.

"Being… Being indecisive."

"Being indecisive? Is that really so scary?" She looked away after that, just like Garin had.

This felt all too strange. I knew I couldn't just leave this battlement, so I turned to face my Neopet, who them hovered to my level.

"What do you want outta life?", Tychophon asked, somewhat casually.

Once again, the choices appeared in my head. _To see rare sights. To broaden my horizons. To be strong. _None of them were preferrable choices, but I thought the only way to continue was to answer his all the questions. Either way, I chose an answer at random and hoped for the best.

"To broaden my horizons."

"To broaden your horizons, huh?" It looked like my Neopet was going to palm his face at my answer, and to my surprise, he didn't turn away like the others. He just looked at me for a long while, until finally turning away as though he had to go off and sulk in shame. I was about to move and try to console him, but I found that my feet were glued to the floor.

_You like to collect things. You're afraid of being indecisive. You want to broaden your horizons._, the voice mused.

I waited for an answer.

_Your adventure begins in the dead of night. Your road won't be easy, but a rising sun awaits your journey's end._

Adventure starts at night? That didn't sound good. What was that supposed to mean?

_The day you will open the door is both far off and very near._

The door? Was it the door on the other platform? The one I wasn't allowed to enter? I was suddenly blinded by a great white light, and I stumbled forward as I waited for it to dim.

Part V. More Battling

Once the light faded, I found myself somewhere else, on another platform that floated in the darkness.

This one was red, shaped like an octagon platform, and had a Feng Shui pattern like in the mirror of the same shape. However, in place of the 'mirror' was a blank yellow circle. Just then, a beam of light shot down onto the center. I looked up to the light's source, then walked over to where it seemed to be pointing. Yet as I reached it, I was suddenly surrounded by the little black creatures from before.

Shield still in my hand, I took out the pistol from my pocket. I aimed at the one in front of me and fired at it until it disappeared into a burst of black fire. The rest of the shadow creatures huddled seemed to form a group charge. For an instant, I wished for the shotgun, then set the thought aside and fired until they were all gone.

I straightened, relieved now that all the little shadows were gone. I turned back to the beam of light, but it had moved. It was no longer on the center. It had moved downward, and then created a circle imprint on the floor. The outline looked like white fire, burning constantly. I ran toward it, dropped to my knees, and placed a hand over the fire. After feeling nothing, not even any heat, I decided to step inside it.

_This must be some kind of training mission._, I thought._ Either that or a very very strange dream._

As I stood there, the beam of light moved again. This time, it went all the way over the edge, and as soon as it did so, a series of square platforms appeared, making a sort of stairway up to another place. I was sure it'd lead to another platform. I looked around, and seeing that there was nothing more to do on that platform, I ran toward the stairway, then walked up it, careful not to slip and fall into the pit of darkness that surrounded me. I was nervous, and afraid of heights.

Part VI. The 'Boss'

The brilliant yellow glow of the platform ahead was the first thing I saw. As I finaly reached it, the steps disappearing behind me, I saw it was pentagon-shaped…and there was a black star-shape inside it, its points pointing at the platform's edges. I then saw a beam of light just above the center of the platform. I stepped toward it, curious now, as it wasn't running away. I stopped underneath the light and gazed up at its source. And then the voice made its presence known.

_The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes._

_Was that a riddle, or a literal meaning?_, I thought. I slowly turned around to look at my shadow. Sure enough, it was there. Darker than I'd ever seen it before, and reaching all the way to the edge. My shadow turned slightly to face me. I was shocked for a second. I didn't do that.

Then, the shadow began to pull itself up out of the floor. I stepped back, staring as it began to change its shape. At first, it looked like me, but now its hair stretched to look like black tentacles, some of which chose to wrap themselves around the creature's head. Two eyes began to glow yellow within the mask of dark tentacles. Its fingers stretched and sharpened into sharp black claws. Its feet became smaller, curving inward as to the toe. I was backing away.

_But don't be afraid._

A giant heart-shaped hole had appeared in its chest area. I was able to see right through it. The shadow had grown to immense proportions, looming over me, dark and menacing, staring down at him with glowing yellow eyes. I was completely terrified now.

_And don't forget.._

My eyes widened in fear as the creature completed itself. I immediately ran, still staring over my shoulder at the giant shadow creature. It was just standing there, as if it were waiting. I continued to run, but nearly slipped over the edge. I forgot there was no way out. I was on a large circular platform floating in blackness. Where could I possibly run? I teetered on the edge of the platform, and then fell into the abyss below. This was it. Either I was gonna wake up, or die.

Suddenly, everything around me shifted and the next thing I knew, I landed on the pentagon platform, facing the creature I fled from earlier. I had no choice but to fight it. I stood up, and stared at the monster as it straightened itself to its full height. Gripping my weapons tight, I aimed my gun at the creature and fired away. Its right hand seemed to be creating a purple energy sphere for its first attack. The creature raised it into the air and then slammed it onto the platform. The purple energy disappeared as a black patch formed underneath its palm.

As I continued firing, I saw that the shadows from before were emerging from the patch. I turned my atention away from the big one and attacked these shadows. As I shot down each one of them, green orbs came out of them. They bounced to me and upon contact, I felt my energy return.

Eventually, all the small shadows had vanished, but the giant had other means of attack. From the heart-shaped hole in its chest, a huge glowing sphere of purple energy appeared. Ins pite of this, I continued attacking. When the energy sphere shattered into pieces and all those pieces came after me, I lifted my shield to protect myself.

As the battle wore on, I was beginning tto despair. None of my attack seemed to be working. The giant didn't even seem to notice that it was being attacked at all. I then had an idea. I aimed at the creature's head, remembering how a headshot defeated a shadow in one hit, maybe this would help deal more damage. I fired with everything I got, making each shot count, not that I'd run out of ammo anyway.

Finally, the giant's head seemed to be knocked back and it stayed there for a moment, the shadow creatures disappearing. I gripped my weapons tightly, waiting for something to happen when without warning, my pistol and shield vanished with a white light.

_Oh crap._, I thought, now without a means to defend myself.

And the monster was still alive! I wanted to run, but I remembered I was on a circular platform. Even if I fell, I would be teleported back to the platform. Even so, I had to get away from the giant shadow monster. Even just being out of its reach would be enough. I leapt backward again and stumbled to the platform when the creature lashed out at me, swinging one mighty hand in an attempt to knock me off the platform. The shadow slammed its other hand down onto the platform as well, causing a great rumble in the ground beneath my feet. The creature had fallen to its knees, and was glaring me with its yellow eyes.

I was completely powerless. It was a terrifying nightmare and I wished definitely wished it was one. I stared up at the creature, terrified, still trying to get away. I kicked my feet, pushing at the ground, when I suddenly felt a familiar texture on my hands and legs. I looked down and saw I was on one of those dark patches from the purple platform! One had formed underneath me!

The monster stared down at me, its yellow eyes gleaming as though all this was his plan. I squirmed under the giant's gaze. Those horrible glowing yellow eyes…

_But don't be afraid._

Too late.

The patch underneath reached up to me with dark tentacles and held me down. Along with its black tendrils was something like black fire and smoke, curling around my limbs and holding me down just as firmly as the tendrils. The smoke and tendrils first began to wrap around my legs, engulfing me in darkness, holding me tight. I struggled under the feeling of it.

The monster was still there, still glaring at me, but nothing more. Its glowing eyes burned into my sould. My mind was racing. I could do nothing but stare back, but… that stare… Suddenly, the creature raised itself and stood upright. Like it was planning to do something.

_You hold a mighty weapon. _The voice seemed to be trembling.

I managed to roll onto my stomach, even as the tendrils wrapped around my torso. I could do little more as my hands were tied down by the darkness.

_So don't forget…. _The voice was definitely shaking.

I was sinking into the dark patch as the tentacles engulfed me. I saw the monster was looming over me, leaning down as if to crush me. My eyes widened in terror.

_Make this nightmare stop! No more! No more!_, I panicked.

Black tendrils of fire and smoke reached up and began to wrap around my face.

_Cold… and dark… so dark…_

_You will be instrumental…in opening the door._, the voice said before I lost consciousness.

(1) I'll need to make a new explanation on **why **the Squad Meridell members at Destiny Islands were sent there in the first place. In the 'old version', they were sent to find 'me', but here, I was sent to find 'them'. You see where this is going?

(2) All terms hereafter in this part are Neopets terms, so please look them up if you want to know who they are.


	2. Chapter 1: Destiny Islands

nightelf37 is hiding under his desk in his temporary location in the NA Headquarters. A Striped Jubjub comes over and sees him.

?: What are you doing?

nightelf37: Hiding from the Meepits, Selwick.

Selwick Phoss is a member of Team Terror Mountain and she has retired from Yooyuball.

Selwick: Don't be so paranoid. This facility is Meepit-safe.

nightelf37: The silver box with a red feather decal on it is a summon charm.

Selwick: What?

nightelf37: Never mind. Remember, only the plot and OCs belong to me.

Chapter 1: Destiny Islands

Part I. The Mission

_Somewhere in a blocked off corner of Neopia… _

_The Story Crew member was standing beside a portal inside a room with a few computers._

_There were five Neopets standing in attention in front of the member. Four of them wore brown uniforms with red-and-blue on them. _

_"You all know the mission, right?", asked the fifth Neopet, whose identity was completely masked, but judging by his body shape, it was a Chia._

_"Yes, sir!", the agents replied. They were a White Techo, a Yellow Eyrie, a Green Meerca, and a Blue Jubjub._

_"Cross the portal and do what you need to do."_

_"Once you cross it, you will assume human forms so you could fit in better to your surroundings.", the SC member said. "It may be unccomfortable for some of you, but it has to be done."_

_"Rookie, don't let them down. This is your first mission."_

_"I won't, sir.", the Jubjub said._

_"Good. Now go!"_

_Quickly, the four agents rushed through the portal and they were off._

Part II. A Strange World

I immediate woke up from the 'nightmare' I experienced. I was thankful that was over. However, there was a new problem. Where on Earth am I? Is this even somewhere in Earth? I was sitting down, leaning on something. I looked around to see I was in a beach. The sky was blue, and large white clouds rolled lazily across the wide blue expanse. It seemed to be daybreak, judging by the sun's position. I looked up to see I was leaning on a tropical-type tree. The fruit it bore were strange, yellow, star-shaped fruits. I then turned my head down and all of a sudden, I was facing a blond-haired girl about my age. She wore a blue headband, a yellow shirt with a zigzag pattern, matching jogging pants, and sneakers of the same color.

"Whoa!", I gasped, surprised by her presence.

"Hello.", she greeted.

"Uhh…hi?", I said.

"What's your name?"

"Uhh…Rael."

"Hi, Rael. I'm Florina. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. Where am I?", I asked.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"Where is here?"

"Destiny Islands."

"Oh."

Just then, two boys bypassed us, running as if in a race. One of them had brown, spiky hair, blue eyes, large yellow shoes, a white-and-black overjacket, a red jumpsuit, a pair of white-with-yellow gloves, and a crown necklace and crown chain. The other had silver hair, aquamarine eyes, a yellow shirt mimicking a tank top, black gloves, and baggy blue jeans connected to suspenders with large shoes.

Following them was a redhead girl who had the same build as Florina. This girl wore a white top with a black one underneath (the black one showing at her collarbone and at the hem) baring her midriff, purple biker shorts underneath a purple skirt with a blue belt, white slip-on shoes with purple caps, a black choker, a yellow wristband, a purple arm band on her left arm, and a pair of bracelets on her right arm.

"Who are those?", I asked my new aquaintance.

"The spiky-hair is Sora, the silver-hair is Riku, and the redhead is Kairi."

"Isn't Sora a girl's name?"

"Yeah, I know. The reverse holds true for Kairi, by the way."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

"Where?"

"To meet the others." Florina offered her hand to me. Unsure, I took it. She pulled me up, and started to run in the direction the three went, taking me with her. As she ran, she said to me, "You know? You're like Kairi."

"How?"

"You told me you aren't from around here, right?"

"I didn't, but that's right."

"You see, Kairi is like that as well. She appeared during a meteor shower ten years ago. It was Sora, a native of these islands, who found her. She doesn't remember her past, but it was apparent that she wasn't from arond here. Three months ago from now, we came."

"We?"

"Me and my friends. Not in the same fashion as Kairi, though. None of us can remember why we came, although we remember we came for a purpose. Now there's you."

"Whoa. Didn't think I was the first anyway. Why are you telling me all this to a stranger like me?"

"Because the people of Destiny Islands are a friendly people. Newcomers have been accepted with kindness ever since Kairi's arrival."

"…Okay, I guess."

KHKHKHKHKH

A while later, Florina and I reached where Sora, Riku, and Kairi were. After making introductions, Kairi asked Sora, "So, can you gather the rest of the supplies?" Her hands were behind her back and she was giving him her sweetest smile.

He blinked in a confused manner. "What?" Sora put one hand behind his head, looking up into the tree branches as he tried to remember.

Her face twisted slightly in anger and she leaned forward, getting up into Sora's face, her meanest, angriest face having replaced her smile. "Sora, are you listening to me?"

Sora looked back into her face, blinked, and then smiled, letting out a light, carefree laugh. "Sorry, what was that again?"

Kairi's face twisted as to make herself look meaner, then let out an exasperated sigh. She shook her head sadly at Sora. "Geez. We can't build a raft without materials, right?"

"Why are they building a raft?", I asked Florina as Kairi began to pace back and forth like a drill sergeant in the army.

"After hearing about what little Kairi could remember about her past, Sora and Riku got interested and decided to build a raft to see what was out there beyond the islands."

"Oh."

Kairi then faced Sora, who smiled at her, and and began to list, using her fingers to number them. "Here's what we need. Two logs. One cloth. One rope." Kairi smiled again, putting her hands behind her once again. "Bring everything back here. If you need help, just ask." She then winked at Sora and gave him a thumbs up. "I'm counting on you!"

Sora nodded in reply and began to hurry away. Kairi smiled as she called after him. "No more slacking, okay?"

"Let's go help him.", Florina suggested.

"Uhh…sure, I guess."

With that, the two of us followed Sora. As we followed him, he slowed down as his eye caught on something jutting out of the sand. One log. Sora grinned and walked toward it, bending over to scoop it up. His grin widened as he tucked the log under one arm.

"One log down, one more to go!", Sora said aloud with a laugh.

"Would you like me to take that back for you?", Florina offered.

"Oh! Didn't notice you guys. Okay.", Sora offered her the log.

"Oh, and another thing. Could you show Rael around the island?"

"Sure!"

"What?", I asked.

"Let's go." Sora took my hand and we were off.

Part III. Exploring the Island

The entire layout of Destiny Islands, at least the 'play island', was embedded in Sora's memory so well that he knew exactly where to find all the supplies. Right in the middle of the island was a large tree that was, in most places, hollow. A series of wooden platforms was built all around it, jutting out of the side of the tree. There were two levels of platforms, connected by a wooden ladder. The top level had a railing around it so as to prevent anyone from falling off.

"What are you looking for, Sora?", I asked.

"A cloth.", he replied as he knew where to look.

The cloth was in the hollow of the tree that had been made as a hideout for when it rained and they didn't want to stay in the shack they built on the beach. Sora climbed up the various ladders to reach the hollow nd I waited below. A third of a minute later, Sora came down with the cloth.

"Hmm.", Sora murmured to himself out loud. "Why did we ever put a piece of cloth up here in the first place?"

"As a curtain, perhaps?", I guessed.

"Maybe." Sora shrugged, turned on his heel, then jumped down from the first level platform to the ground. However, he misjudged the distance from the edge of the rock and ended up slipping on some moss and falling face first into the sand. Sora pulled his face out of the sand, spitting out the grains that ended up in his mouth and wiping them off his face. Seconds prior, I saw someone come over.

"Wow, that was a real spill, ya?"

This someone was tall, dark-skinned, brown-eyed like me, and had orange hair styled in an enormous coif, a blue bandanna over his forehead. He wore baggy yellow pants that closed up halfway down his lower legs and had a large, grey, "X"-shaped strap with blue tips, a pale yellow tank top with black lining, green sandals, blue wristbands, and small stud earrings.

He stood with his volleyball tucked under one arm, putting his weight all on one leg, giving him an almost cocky stance as he smiled at Sora. He shook his head slightly and then grinned at him.

"Hey, Wakka.", Sora replied, retrieving the cloth that had landed a ways away from him.

Wakka grinned and pointed at the cloth. "What's that for?"

"It's for our raft." Sora then smiled. "Kairi's orders."

Wakka laughed heartily, throwing his head back. "I won't ask any more, then. I know how the girls are. They think they own the island or somethin', ya?" He tossed what he called his blitzball up into the air then caught it on one finger. He then gave Sora a mischievous look, his smile deepening. "So… You up for a round?" He held out a wooden sword for Sora and winked.

Sora laughed lightly, taking the wooden sword from Wakka and dropping the cloth on the ground near a rock. He then turned to me and said, "Could you take the cloth to Kairi for me?"

"No can do.", I said. "She'd think you were lazing about again if I did. And probably think you've sunk so low to ask others to do stuff for you. Besides, I'd like to see your 'game'."

"Okay." He turned to Wakka and said, "Sure, let's play."

"Play is for kids.", Wakka told him. "This is serious!"

Seeing the distance down to the sand was only about my height, I climbed down the platform and when my feet were close to the rock Sora was meant to land on, I let go and landed on it, hoping I wouldn't slip. Thankfully, I didn't and I cautiously made my way down onto the beach, where Sora and Wakka were about to 'fight'.

While I was making my way down, Sora crossed the sand so that he and Wakka stood opposite of each other, dragging the sword as to make a line. Wakka moved toward his position on the beach as well. He laughed from the other side, and yelled, "Show me your stuff!"

As I made it to where the cloth was to pick it up, Wakka threw his blitzball toward Sora, who merely moved out of the way, propping his wooden sword up on one shoulder. He laughed at Wakka, who ran over to pick up his ball before he could resume.

_What an idiot to use a ball as a weapon._, I thought as I moved to a safe distance.

Sora stood ready to receive, having figured out a way to 'help' Wakka with getting that ball off his back. As Wakka spun around on his heel, ready to serve the ball again, Sora grinned. "Gimme your best shot!"

"Oh, you're gonna eat those words, Sora!", Wakka yelled, rearing back and throwing the ball with all his might.

Sora struck the ball right back at Wakka with his sword, who yelled in alarm as the ball rebounded for him. The ball flew into his hands, but the impact sent Wakka into a state of confusion. Dizzy and disoriented, he began to throw the ball randomly in the air. It hit me on the head, but luckily it was soft enough not to hurt much.

"Oww!", I said.

When it bounced off me, it also just was about to hit Sora, but he dodged it in time. He then grinned, picking the ball up. He tossed it into the air and, using his sword like a bat, smacked the ball straight toward Wakka. The ball hit him right in the chest this time and knocked him off his feet.

Sora gasped, throwing the sword into the sand and hurried toward Wakka. "Aw, man! are you okay?"

Wakka grinned up at Sora dizzily. "Man, that really hurt.", he murmured with a smile, defeated. He recovered fast, shaking the dizziness off and getting back up onto his feet. He laughed lightly and held his hand out toward Sora. "That was a good match, ya?"

Sora sighed with relief and shook Wakka's hand. "Yeah, great match!"

"Still no match for Riku though, ya?", Wakka said, taking his hand back.

Sora's smile faded slightly at the words. "Yeah, I guess not." He pushed the thought away as he picked up the wooden sword and tucked into his belt. He turned and grinned at Wakka as he continued on his little mission to gather stuff for the raft. "See ya later, Wakka!"

"Hey Wakka!", somebody else called. "I need you to come help me with something!"

We turned to see another boy. He had the same build as Wakka, but his skin was lighter, and his eyes were green. He also wore a green beanie over his head, an orange undershirt under a green jacket, green jogging pants, and orange sneakers.

"Okay, Gregorio.", Wakka called back. With that, we all left. I didn't ask any questions and Sora seemed to be busy.

KHKHKHKHKH

The next item Kairi had asked for was a rope. Sora knew where he could find one of those.

At the edge of the island was another large tree, half on the island and half in the water. It wasn't as big as the one in the island's center, nor was it hollow. Because of that, a platform was built in the big depression between the branches. It too, had a small railing on the sides to keep anyone from falling into shallow water. But to reach the platform, one had to climb up the ladder. It wasn't really long ladder, but it was the longest on the island.

Sora jumped back up onto the gravel platform and headed toward that area. I followed him, panting slightly, cloth over my shoulders like a towel. Sora then grabbed hold of the rungs and began to climb the ladder as fast as he could. I followed behind him, although in a slower rate. As he scrambled over onto the wooden platform and headed toward the flat built there, he suddenly paused at the center just as I made it up.

As he shook his head to clear his mind of what he was thinking, I heard someone say, "Hurry up, will ya?"

I quickly got on the platform and when the one behind me got up on the platform. The boy who got up after me was sandy-blond haired, blue eyed, and quite short' about the same height as Sora. He wore a small, open, short-sleeved shirt with white sleeves, yellow hems yellow center, and white lining around the center, unique, navy pants with uneven legs, his right pant leg reaching just past his knee, and his left reaching to just about mid-thigh. He also had a small X-shaped scar on his right cheek.

"Haven't seen you around here before.", he said.

"Hey, Tidus!", someone yelled.

The two of us turned to see Sora, rope in hand.

"Hey, Sora!", Tidus, the boy I encountered just seconds ago, greeted back. He then took out a red bokken from his waist. He then brandished it like a sword, a challenging look coming over his face. "You feel lucky today?"

Sora laughed, throwing the rope he got towards me. "Not now, Tidus, maybe some other time."

Tidus made a face as I coiled the rope around my right arm. "Come on, Sora, be a man!"

"Hey, I'm kinda busy right now.", Sora replied with a sigh. "I'm on a mission. Kairi's orders."

Tidus laughed, folding his arms over his chest. "Oh, so it's like that, huh?"

Sora cast a death glance over at Tidus, which soon turned into a lopsided smile. "Tomorrow, okay? I promise!" He then spun on his heel as he resumed his little mission. Tidus cupped his hands over his mouth and called after him, "Why would you want to cross the ocean? Sword fights beat that any day!"

Sora laughed at the comment, casting one final glance in Tidus's direction, and then slid down the ladder as quickly as he could. I quickly followed after him, having been ignored by Tidus.

KHKHKHKHKH

We were about to head back to Kairi when Sora caught sight of two people sitting at the edge of the dock. One of them was a boy with the same 'build' as Tidus. He wore a blue beanie, a T-shirt and shorts of the same color, a green vest over his shirt, green sneakers of matching color. The other was a young girl with brown hair curling outward upon reaching the neck. She wore an odd, yellow dress with overall straps, brown sandals, and a loose, blue beaded bracelet on her left wrist.

Sora began to grin mischievously, and I somehow knew what he intended to do. While I stayed behind, he quietly snuck up behind the two, doing his best not to make the wooden planks of the dock creak. They weren't very far in front of him now. Only a few more steps. Sora's grin deepened as he got ready to grab her by the shoulders…

"Don't… even.", the girl said, somehow knowing Sora's presence.

"Knew it.", I groaned.

"Someone's behind us?", the boy in blue asked, who didn't know Sora was there until the girl spoke up.

The two then turned and I noticed the girl had green eyes and the boy had blue eyes. The girl had a happy little grin on her face.

"Hey, Sora!", she chirped happily. "What're you up to these days? We never see you."

"Hey, Sora!", the boy greeted at the same time as the girl. "Who's that guy wih you? Never seen him around before."

Sora shrugged helplessly and turned to the girl. "We've been busy, Selphie." Then to the boy. "This is a new friend, Yoris."

Selphie frowned slightly, putting on her puppy dog face, and Yoris raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Come on, tell me what you're planning.", Selphie said somewhat sadly, and then suddenly her face changed, her eyes growing wide and her gaze switching from Sora's face to a blank stare. "Actually, never mind." She looked back up at Sora and smiled. "I'll find out on my own."

After she was done talking, Yoris spoke up. "Doesn't even look like he's from around here."

"He isn't.", Sora said. "Like Kairi. And Florina. And Gregorio. And you."

"Talk about strange. You have plans for seeing what's beyond the island and now, yet another 'outsider' lands in the island."

"So that's what you're up to, Sora.", Selphie realized.

"How did you find out?", Sora asked Yoris in a surprised tone.

"I have my own methods.", the boy snickered as he put his hands behind his head.

Sora sighed, then said, "Alright then, guys. Catch ya later!" Sora jumped down from the dock into the sandy beach. As I followed quickly before anybody could talk to me, Sora turned around slightly and winked. "Off to do some 'top secret' business!"

"Top secret being that plan I said, right?", Yoris called back.

"Right."

Part IV. Two Silver-Haired Boys

After a while, we made it back toward where Kairi was waiting, the two items required on my person. We hopped up toward Kairi, who turned to look at us from where we were leaning against the doorway and smiled. "Hey, that was quick! Thanks, guys."

"Sora took the trouble of finding these.", I found myself saying as I gave the cloth and rope to her. "I merely carried them. They're not that heavy, but the way was really long and I tire easily. And I think there's still one last thing…"

"What? We got everything, right?", asked Sora.

"There's still the other log."

"That's right!", Kairi said with a smile. "Come on, Sora, I'm counting on you!"

"All right, I'll find it.", Sora sighed.

"Guess I'll help too.", I said. "Even though I'm already tired, I'd like to see the rest of the island."

KHKHKHKHKH

After a while, we made our way to a shack. Sora opened its door and we went up the stairs inside. As it turns out, as I closed the door behind us and we made our way up, the stairs was the only thing the shack had. Sora pushed open the door at the top and we were back outside. Here, there was a bridge that led over to a part of the island sticking out of the water like a plateau. It wasn't far off from the main part of the 'play' island. In fact, it was perfectly connected to it. But it was considered as an 'unusual little dot on the side' since it was separated by some water.

Sora and I hurried across the wooden bridge and the former grinned as he found the log sitting near the edge. We hurried over toward it, but just as Sora was about to get it, we heard a voice coming from behind.

"Hey, Sora!"

We turned around to see Riku and another boy sitting on the trunk of one of the trees. This tree was bent over, so it was perfect to relax on. It is not known how it was made to swerve the way it did, but nobody ever complained. It was the perfect seat. And there the two boys sat, both in the same position; one knee pulled up close and arms propping them up in their sitting position.

The boy next to Riku seemed to be as tall as him, had amber eyes compared to Riku's aquamarine, and had silver clean-cut hair like Riku, but shorter. He also wore a silver shirt with a volleyball decal, grey pants, and black boots.

"Did you get everything we need for the raft?", Riku asked. "I already gave my stuff to Kairi."

Sora smiled and straightened to his full height. "Well, I just need this last log."

"Hey? Who's the new kid?", the other silver-haired boy asked.

"Oh, Windelle. This is Rael."

"Hi.", I simply greeted.

"How about a quick round, Sora?", Riku asked with a grin. "I think the log can wait for a little while longer."

"Okay, you're on!", Sora said as he took out his wooden sword.

"This one decides the champion!", Riku said with a grin as he hopped down from his seat on the bent tree trunk. As I took the log and decided to rest on the tree with Windelle, Riku and Sora glared at each other as they headed to the center of the plateau, swords in hand. They stood facing each other, Sora already in his stance, his sword gripped with two hands. Riku stood cocky, fiddling with his sword slightly, tapping its edge into the palm of his left hand. His smile deepened as he watched Sora with his blue-green eyes.

"Ready or not!", he taunted.

Sora was shaking slightly as he clenched the sword tightly between his hands and watched Riku's moves carefully. Riku moved first. He leapt high into the air and landed right behind Sora. Sora's eyes widened and he hurried away as Riku got ready to swing his sword. Sora ran forward as Riku took his swing, missing him slightly. Sora hurried right back, charging at Riku with his sword, swinging the wood with all his might. But Riku quickly swung his sword backhand like a tennis racket, countering Sora's blow. Sora gritted his teeth at the backlash.

"Is there anything special between those two?", I found myself asking Windelle as Sora swung his sword, lower this time. "I could see that their fight is intense compared to Sora's spar with Wakka." Riku countered Sora's attack, which continued into an overhead swing, hitting him on the shoulder.

"Yeah. There is.", Windelle unexpectedly replied as Riku recovered and swung at Sora, managing to scratch at his jacket as he jumped. "They have been best of friends and they always strived to make each other stronger." The two combatants have put some distance between each other. Sora closed that distance and swung at Riku furiously, who blocked every one of his moves.

"You still don't got it.", Riku said with a chuckle as he pushed Sora back.

Sora just narrowed his eyes at Riku as he got ready to charge again. Sora ran straight for Riku. Riku was ready to deliver another blow when Sora suddenly jumped up and over Riku's head, turning slightly in the air, and struck Riku in the back.

"Whoa. He has a really high jump.", I gasped as Riku stumbled from the attack and thent turned around to face Sora.

"That's nothing.", Windelle told me as Riku taunted Sora, who charged once more and jumped over Riku. "Just about every kid on this island can do it."

Sora spun in mid-air and struck him again, but this time Riku turned around so that he fell onto his back. And as Sora planted both feet on the ground and spun to face Riku, he ended up with an unpleasant "get-up kick" to the gut, which ended up knocking Sora off the plateau and into the water below.

"That's gotta hurt.", I said as Sora surfaced with a loud gasp for air. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine.", Windelle assured me. "He landed in the water after all. And it's not that shallow."

"Still not enough, Sora!", Riku called from above. "You still need a little more training!"

"Still…water isn't soft.", I told Windelle. "If not done properly, a drop into the water from this high would still hurt."

"…You're not from around the islands, are you?", he concluded as Sora pulled himself out of the water and began to climb the ladder back up to the top of the plateau.

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm not from here either." As Sora reached the top, Riku grabbed his jacket and helped pull him back topside.

"You mean like, Florina, Gregorio, and Yoris?", I asked. Suddenly, Sora and Riku were laughing.

"You met them?" Windelle asked as Riku pulled Sora into a headlock and gave him a friendly noogie.

"Yeah. Florina was the first one I met when I woke up, realizing I was now in these islands. I met the rest while Sora toured me around."

As soon as I finished talking, Sora and Riku had calmed down from their laugh. Sora tossed the wooden sword to one side and plopped down into a cross-legged sitting position. He then looked up into the sky and sighed.

"Man… now the score's 0-1.", Sora sighed.

"Better luck next time." Riku told him with a grin, giving Sora a pat on the back.

"Well, I better head back to Kairi."

"Well, see you around.", I said to Windelle as I got up with the log and came over to Sora. "You too, Riku."

The two of us left to get back to Kairi. While Sora jumped from the bridge to the beach below, I took the stairs in the shack. We met up seconds later and we headed back.

KHKHKHKHKH

Once we made it back, as I handed the log to Kairi, Sora was squeezing the water out of his clothes.

"What happened to you?", Kairi asked Sora as she tilted her head to one side.

He looked over at her and smiled. "Nothing, don't worry about it."

Kairi smiled knowingly with, one raised eyebrow. "You and Riku went at it again, didn't you?"

"Yup.", I confirmed. "He and Riku just sparred from where we were."

Kairi shrugged and put one hand on Sora's and my shoulder.

"Thanks, guys!" She then began to reach into her pocket. "I found something today, too. Here, it's yours." She grabbed our hands and a bottle labeled "Hi-Potion" into our palms. "Considering your little spat with Riku today, Sora, I guess you're gonna need it. And Rael, think of it as a welcome gift for your arrival at Destiny Islands."

Sora smiled slightly and put it away. "Thanks, Kairi."

"Th-th-th-thanks, Kairi.", I replied to her. I was nervous since I never received something from a total stranger who was of my age and a girl.

Kairi smiled, putting her hands behind her back. "Tired? Want to call it a day?"

"Yeah, let's go home.", Sora said with a stretch. He then turned to me. "Wanna come?"

"Okay, I guess."

"Okay.", Kairi replied with a slight giggle. "It's getting late. We'll finish up tomorrow."

Part V. Day's End

After a couple more playing around the island, I don't remember much, but the next thing I remember was walking down the beach with Florina and Windelle.

"And you know what else?", Windelle was saying.

"What?", Florina asked.

I paid no further attention as I wondered why I was here in this world.

_Have I been destined for something, but had my memory wiped for purity reasons?_, I thought. _No. Can't be. I still remember where I came from. The only thing I do not know is the inbetween. __**What**__ exactly brought me here? And why can't I remember._

"Something bothering you?", Windelle suddenly asked me.

"Yeah. I don't know why I am here. Or how.", I answered.

"Don't sweat it.", Florina assured me. "We've experienced personal dilenmas like what you're facing now. Although Kairi has no memory of her homeworld, she's happy here, although she wouldn't mind visiting her homeworld."

I merely sighed as the little dock leading to the main island came into view.

"Hey, race ya to the boats.", Florina suddenly said.

"You're not beating me this time.", Windelle replied as both of them ran straight for the awaiting boats. I was in no hurry and merely walked. Just then, I received a hard blow from behind, and I immediately lost consciousness.

KHKHKHKHKH

While I was in dreamland from that last blow, I was hearing these voices.

_"Seriously? Tap on the head? You really think that was a good idea to render him unconscious?"_

_"It isn't?"_

_"No! A blow to the head is the least reliable way of doing that. In fact, one strong enough to render a person unconscious is just as reliable at producing __**unintentional death**__ or __**brain damage**__!"_

_"It always works in the—"_

_"This isn't the movies, son. Now let's get to work on getting him healed up before his friends start to worry."_

_"Uhh…I think they already noticed he's gone."_

_"Dammit. Let's make sure he's okay before they start bringing everyone else to look for him. We got until morning."_

_"Yes, sir."_

-The reason why I ended the chapter in this manner is because I never personally stayed overnight in somebody else's house, be it a friend or stranger and thus it'd be awkward if it does hapen to me in real life. Of course, "Tap On The Head" isn't as safe as it looks in the movies, so I had this conversation up to explain why it's a bad idea. By the way, the ones who knock 'me' out are from the Story Crew.-

-Anyways, see ya on Third.-

(That's my new farewell phrase. Mrfipp's known for his "please be well", others are known for "later dayz", and others have "R&R" or "read and review".)


	3. Chapter 2: Second Day

?: Boo!

nightelf37 is spooked out of his chair.

nightelf37: Whoa! Didn't see you there, Kep.

Kep Bonnefie is a member of Team Darigan Citadel, and also the only female there. While they may look menacing, they are quite the pranksters.

Kep: Tell me. What's so special about Team Meridell?

nightelf37: Well, you see. When I first came into Neopets, Meridell was the first land outside Neopia Central that I've been to. And then, when I first participated in the Altador Cup, the third one, I looked at the teams, thinking of which to root for. And then I found Meridell, for some reason they seemed to pique my interest.

Kep: Is it because of their varied colors and not a generic theme? Brightvale has that too. Compared to our team's Darigan color, Faerieland's elegant colors, Haunted Woods' Halloween theme, Terror Mountain's 'cool' color theme,—

nightelf37: Okay, okay, I get it. You're right, Kep, but I then saw how dirty Brightvale played before despite their nation's smarts. True, their leader was a fair player, but seeing all the basic colors in one team hooked me in.

Kep: Red, white, yellow, green, and blue?

nightelf37: Yeah. Remember, only the plot and OCs belong to me.

Kep: What about the random fact?

nightelf37: Nah. Perhaps during the KHR3.

Chapter 2: Second Day

Part I. Something Goes Wrong

_"No!"_

_For some reason, a component in the machine functioning the portal fluctuated. The Story Crew member panicked and started typing at the computer._

_"What's wrong?" the Chia agent asked._

_"Someone has interfered with the teleportation process. They reached their destination, but they're all missing one thing."_

_"What?"_

_"Their memories."_

_"Oh no."_

_"Don't worry. It's not irreversible. I'll do everything in my power to make sure they accomplish their task."_

_"What about their memories?"_

_"Are there any memory restoring methods in Neopia?"_

_"I guess so."_

_"Then I'm sure you can fix them up once they get back."_

_"All right."_

_A short distance away, unbeknownst to them, a Red Ixi and a Green Shoyru watched. _

Part II. A Paopu and a Raft

I groggily regained consciousness, no longer feeling the pain from that blow on my head. In fact, it was as if it never happened and I merely went to sleep. Suddenly, I heard voices.

"Rael! Rael!"

"Please wake up."

"Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes to see Florina, Windelle, and Sora looking down at me.

"Guys?", I asked. "Where am I?"

"You're at the 'play' island.", Florina explained. "You never left."

"What happened to you?", Sora asked me.

"I was hit from behind by something hard. I was out like a light after that."

"But there are no wounds or bruises or anything showing you had an injury.", Windelle responded.

"Really?"

I got up and felt the back of my head and sure enough, there was no evidence of anything hitting me on that spot.

"That's strange.", I wondered, then changed the subject. "How did you find me?"

"After Windelle and I raced to the boats, we left one behind for you to use.", Florina explained. "Once we made it to the main island, where we all live, we waited for you to come around. After a few minutes, we realized either something was wrong, or you didn't know how to row a boat."

"I don't know how to row a boat."

"Either way, by then, it was our curfew and we had no choice but to head home. We couldn't have the adults bring together a search party because they were too busy with their 'adult stuff'. The very next morning, Windelle and I decided to fetch Sora to help us look for you.

"I can't believe you took the trouble of finding me."

"Around here, we look out for each other.", Sora said.

"Thanks, Sora."

"Here." As Windelle helped me up to my feet, Sora offered one of the fruits I saw when I first 'arrived' in the islands.

"What's that?"

"It's a paopu. Try one."

Hesitantly, I took the paopu from Sora's hand. I then looked at him quizzically as I didn't know how to eat it. Florina gently took the paopu from me and showed me how. After then mimicking her, I took a bite out of the strange fruit. After munching on it and tasting it, I found out it was like a mix of banana and mango. (1)

"Mmm…delicious.", I said as I finished the fruit.

"Glad you like it.", Sora replied. "Wanna come with me?"

"Uhh…" I turned to Florina and Windelle for support, but they did nothing. I turned to Sora and relented. "Okay."

KHKHKHKHKH

For a while, I walked with Sora around the island. Without any electronic game consoles, if they even exist here, I easily got bored, especially when I saw that the kids in the islands play by sparring with one another. As we crossed the 'docks' where the kids 'park' their boats to the main island, we suddenly heard a voice.

"Hey, guys!"

We turned to see Selphie come up from behind us.

"Hey, Selphie.", Sora greeted.

She smiled back approached us, looking both ways before she began to speak, like she had a secret to share. She leaned forward slightly as she opened her mouth.

"Have you heard about the legendary power of the paopu fruit?"

"Can't say I have.", I replied.

"I was talking to Sora."

"Oh."

"Anyway, they say if you share it with someone you _really _care for, it binds you together forever and ever, through eternity!", she continued matter of factly, sighing dreamily in the end, her eyes glazing over as she seemed to forget we were there. "It's so romantic. I gotta try it sometime."

Sora smiled faintly, putting one hand on her shoulder. "Well, you tell me how that works out, alright?", he told her with a laugh, turning on his heel to go.

"Why, are you thinkin' about trying it?", Selphie countered mischievously as I followed.

Sora seemed to move faster upon hearing that. I was instantly suspicious. Did Selphie push a sensitive button in Sora?

"If you don't share a paopu with Kairi soon, Riku might beat you to it.", Selphie called after him.

Sora just ignored her as we made it to the first level platform around the big tree.

"Where are we going, Sora?", I asked.

"The boat ruins. It's on the other side of the island. I know a shortcut."

In a few seconds, we made it to a little cave.

"We're going in that?", I asked.

"Sure. Why not?"

"What about bats? Or scorpions? Or spiders? Or who knows whatever's in there?"

"No need to worry. I've been through this lots of times. Follow me."

Sighing, I did just that, holding Sora's hand all the while. Eventually, we popped out on the other side of the island, elevated so that we ware level with the tops of the small "forest" of palm trees that grew in the shade. Next to where we stood was a small barren tree with a large yellow star stuck onto its trunk. Sora grinned at it, placing one hand on its surface.

Next to the forest was where Sora, Riku, and Kairi had started to build their raft. Sora hopped onto the tops of one of the palm trees and shimmied down its truck to reach the ground. I took the slightly longer, but safer way down as I didn't have the dexterity Sora had.

Sora ran straight for Kairi, who stood expectantly on the raft, looking for him and Riku. As I caught up with Sora, he grinned and waved.

"Kairi! Over here!"

She turned at the sound of her name and gave Sora a huge smile.

"Look!", she exclaimed, gesturing toward the raft. It was just about finished. All the logs were securely tied together to make the bottom of the raft. The mast jutted out from the center and stretched to the sky, the cloth from yesterday being used as a sail. Sora smiled proudly as he gazed at it. I just looked in awe, never having seen a self-made raft before. "The raft's almost ready! All we have to do now is load it with food."

"Sounds good!", Sora said with a grin. "Riku must've gotten here early and worked on it, huh?"

At that, Kairi's smile slightly faded. "Hey… have you seen Riku?"

"Oh, come to think of it, no.", Sora murmured slightly, looking around.

"Uhh…what's Rael doing here?", Kairi then asked.

"Him? He decided to come with me for a while."

"You suggested it.", I countered. "I had nothing else to do."

"Well, since that's the case, could you help Sora find Riku?", Kairi asked me.

"Okay."

Sora and I then took off for the other end of the island. While my new spiky-haired friend jumped up onto a rock and then clambered onto the stone plateau, he waited for me as I looked for a safer way around. Sighing, he offered his hand and when I took it, he pulled me up. This side of the island had more rocks than the other, but it looked ideal for a racecourse. To Sora's right was a large wooden tower, with a long ladder leading to the top, where there was a zipline leading to another, smaller wooden tower on the other end of the island.

In front of the tower was a rickety old wooden bridge, leading in the other way over a small section of water to the doorway to the other side of the island. Some of its planks ave rotted through and fallen off, making large gaps in it. On the other side was Riku, who ws looking out into the horizon.

"Come on! Let's go!", said Sora as he started to cross the bridge.

"Are we gonna cross this?", I asked with fear.

"Yeah."

"I think I'll wait here until you know of a safer path. I'm afraid of heights and unstable rickety bridges."

"Oh. Okay." Sora then raced across the bridge, hopping over the gaps.

"Careful, Sora!", I gasped in fear as he ran. Just then, a plank broke underneath him and he fell into the water below. After a second, he surfaced, trudged through the water, and pulled himself up onto the stone platform where Riku was.

"What're you doing all the way over here?", I heard Sora ask him.

Riku gave a start, as if snapping out of a trance, and then turned to Sora and said. "I was just thinking that our raft still needs a name." Riku put one hand thoughtfully under his chin for a moment. "Let's see… How about Highwind?"

I saw Sora grin as the name snapped something in my mind. I felt the name was familiar. Just before I could remember what it was, I heard Sora say, "Naw, not Highwind."

"What would you call it?", Riku asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"Me? Well… hmm…" Sora tapped the side of his head thoughtfully. Then he grinned as he looked back up at Riku. "Excalibur!", Sora shouted excitedly.

"You're gonna name the raft out of a sword?", I called from the other side of the bridge.

Just then, Kairi came over to where I was. "This way.", she said, walking off. I decided to follow. After a while, in the alternate route Kairi took me, we saw Sora and Riku in the distance, still arguing.

"Hey, how 'bout…", Riku suggested, stopping by staring at Sora as if daring him.

"The usual?", Sora finished, accepting the dare.

"Let's do it!"

Just then, Kairi and I made it to the gravel platform. Kairi put her arms behind her back and gave them a knowing look.

"You guys at it again?", she said. "All right, I'll be the judge." Kairi turned slightly with a giggle and pointed in the direction from which we came. "The usual rules apply: Take any route you want. First one to tag the tree with the star and make it back here wins."

Sora turned to Riku as they took their places, ready to race.

"If I win, I'm captain!", he told him cheerily. "And if you win…"

"I get to share the paopu with Kairi.", Riku said solemnly, without even looking at Sora.

"Huh?"

Riku smiled mischievously at Sora. "Deal? The winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi."

Sora's eyes widened. He was clearly panicked. "W-Wait a minute…"

_Am I getting this right?_, I thought. _They're rivalling for Kairi's attention._

Kairi, having taken her position as referee, turned to look at the boys. "Okay, on my count!"

Riku leaned into the position that professional racers got into at the start of a race.

"Three!"

The countdown had already begun!

"Two!"

Sora leaned the same way as Riku.

"One!"

Both were ready to take off.

"Go!"

Kairi dropped her hand as if it were a flag. Both boys sprung forward at the signal. They were evenly matched. For now. As they raced, I sat down to rest. Both of us were silent as we waited for them to return.

After a long minute, we heard a splash. We turned to see Sora surface, heading our way. Kairi was already cheering for him. I saw him smile as he reached to grab onto the edge of the platform we were on. He pulled himself up so he was standing right next to Kairi. He won the race. Kairi screamed excitedly, pulling Sora into a hug and then began to jump up and down.

"Congratulations, Sora.", I said to him.

Sora grinned, his face pink. He then turned around to face Riku, who just arrived. "Now the score's 1-1!", he laughed, almost mockingly.

Riku merely stared at Sora. "Man, lighten up. It's just a name, after all." Sora frowned from that remark.

"Anyways, today we collect provisions for our trip!", Kairi said, breaking them up. She then turned to Sora, putting her arms behind her back. "Let's see. Sora, you're looking for one seagull egg, three mushrooms, two coconuts, three fish, and…" Kairi reached into her pocket and pulled out a clear bottle. She put it on Sora's hands, closing his fingers around it. "And fill this up with drinking water. But not from the ocean!"

"Like that isn't obvious.", I added. "You can't sustain yourself with salt water."

"Bring everything over to the boat ruins.", Kairi continued as she began to walk away. "I'll be over there, okay? If you need help, just ask."

Part III. Provisions and Tidus

I followed Sora to the coconut trees, which were probably the easiest to get. I saw him approach the tree closest to where the raft was, then he whacked it with his wooden sword.

"What?", I gasped to myself. "I was thinking he'd climb it."

Then, a pair of coconuts suddenly fell to the ground. (2) Sora picked them up and dropped them down near the base of the mast. I then followed Sora to a small cave near the boat ruins, which was blocked by a boulder. We worked together on pushing it aside. Once we found the mushroom, he picked it up and put it in a bag Kairi provided earlier.

"Are you sure about the mushrooms?", I asked Sora. "From where I come from, many of them are poisonous."

"No need to worry.", Sora assured me. "I know of these mushrooms and they're safe to eat."

"Straight after plucking them out?"

"Yeah."

"Oh well. Whatever floats your boat." I found myself snickering from my pun.

We then made our was to the base of the large wooden tower with the zipline and found the second mushroom. He returned them to the raft while I waited near the tower. As he came back, the bag empty, he took me to the other side of the island. We took the zipline, despite my protests concerning heights and falling. After a quick ride, we descended the tower and reached the shore, where there were fish.

"You got any fishing gear?", I asked Sora.

"Uhh…"

"How can you catch fish without anything to catch them with?" I sighed. "Go look for somebody who has."

"Did somebody say fishing gear?", another voice said.

We turned to see Gregorio come over with a pair of small nets. He also had a fishing rod.

"Hey there, Gregorio.", Sora greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"Fishing. Although I could see you want a go." He handed Sora a net.

"Thanks."

As Sora went into the water with the net, Gregorio turned to me and asked. "Why are you with Sora?"

"Meh, I haven't the slightest clue either. If it were up to me, I'd be playing an electronic handheld console, even if it was something as simple as a brick game."

"Sorry, but in this island, the only best form of recreation is fighting with one another."

"You mean like Wakka and his blitzball and Sora, Riku, and Tidus with their wooden swords?"

"Yeah. Selphie uses a jump rope. I use a staff. As for the rest, they don't take part."

"You mean, Florina, Windelle, Kairi, and Yoris?"

"Yup."

"What are the other forms of recreation around here?"

"Well, we got—"

Suddenly, Gregorio was cut off by Sora, who called, "I'm done!"

"Okay. Come back here and return the net."

And that's what Sora did. Having put the fish in the bag, which flailed about while they were at it, Sora and I were off once more. We made our way to the base of the big hollow tree, which we went to yesterday. There was a small waterfall and a pond of fresh water. As Sora filled up his bottle, I had the urge to fill up my bottle when I realized I didn't have any. My hand went to my pocket and, to my surprise, there was a sturdy, empty plastic bottle. I still had the Hi-Potion Kairi gave me yesterday in my other pocket.

"How did this get here?", I asked myself as Sora continued to fill his bottle. "Oh well." (3)

As I then filled my bottle, Sora finished with his and decided to look for a seagull egg. As he climbed the trees, I finished filling my bottle, put it in my pocket, and followed Sora as he went to another tree. And the next. And the next. It took about an hour, but I felt we've been at every tree on the island that could possibly hold a seagull's nest. Finally, Sora found one, but only one.

"Kairi asked for only one, remember?", I yelled as he held the egg. "Let's head back."

With Sora bringing the bag, we returned to the boat ruins. Kairi was leaning against the mast of the raft, fiddling with something in her hands.

"We're back.", I called. Kairi didn't look up. She merely smiled. Sora tilted his head curiously to one side and we came closer.

"Whatcha doin'?", Sora asked.

"This?", she answered, raising a long piece of thread with a series of white and yellow shells hooked into it. "I'm making a necklace of thalassa shells. In the old days, sailors always wore thalassa shells. They were supposed to ensure a safe voyage."

"Don't worry, Kairi," Sora said confidently with a grin. "With or without them, we'll be just fine."

Kairi smiled slightly. "You don't believe in fairy tales, Sora?"

He merely shrugged in response. Then, remembering, he held the bag out for Kairi. "Here's the stuff we need."

Kairi smiled as she took the bag from him with both hands. "Hey, that was quick! Thanks, Sora. Let's see, what's still missing?" She looked at what he got and looked over what Sora had placed at the base of the mast. "One more mushroom!"

Sora groaned. "Another mushroom?"

Kairi giggled. "You have this habit of forgetting just the one more item on the list.", she told Sora. "I know you can find it, Captain!" She saluted Sora playfully, who looked confused. "Don't you remember, Sora? You won the race and named the raft! And since you named the raft, doesn't that make you captain?"

"Oh yeah.", Sora murmured.

"Then from now on, I'll say 'Aye, aye, Captain Sora!' ", Kairi said with a laugh.

Sora laughed in return. "Okay, Kairi. I'll go find that last mushroom, so you stay right here."

Kairi smiled. "Aye, aye, Captain Sora!"

KHKHKHKHKH

It was easier said than done. Sora had no idea where to search for another mushroom. We turned to Selphie for help, but all she could talk about was the paopu fruit, and who she should share it with. Yoris was there too and was trying to turn her attention to him. We asked him if he knew where there was another mushroom, but he had no idea either.

"Sorry I couldn't help.", he apologized.

"It's okay."

Sora shrugged and we left. As we walked along the beach, we saw Tidus, who was practicing with his bokken. Only this time, he was practicing where Sora and I encountered Windelle and Riku. We made our way up to the top of the plateau as fast as we can.

"Hey, Tidus!", Sora greeted.

Tidus turned around and looked over, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He smiled and waved, and then continued with his practice.

"Hey, Sora.", he said with a grin. "I think you've gotten stronger, but odds are you're **still** no match for Riku." Sora twitched at the words. "We took him on **four-to-one** last time, and he whipped us all. Well, I guess Kairi can always count on him."

"Four?", I asked.

"Me, Wakka, Selphie, and Gregorio."

Sora's face fell and I widened my eyes in surprise. After all, Riku was outnumbered, yet he still won.

"Hey, listen, Tidus, you wouldn't happen to know where to find some mushrooms, would you?", Sora asked.

"Say, are you and Riku really pals?", Tidus went on, as if ignoring Sora's question. "It's kinda hard to tell sometimes." Tidus then lowered his weapon and turned to Sora. "Anyway… Let's go a round, Sora!"

"Didn't you hear Sora's question?", I asked Tidus. "He's looking for a mushroom."

"Sora promised me a round."

I turned to Sora. "Is he this ignorant?"

"Naw. He's just air-headed." Sora then walked over to where he had left his sword the day before and took it into his hands. "I always keep my promises. Bring it on, Tidus!"

"Hey, no problem. I can take you down myself!"

Sora and Tidus got into their positions atop the plateau and I made my way to the tree. Tidus grinned as he rushed forth and swung his bokken down at Sora, who blocked with his sword and then moved around so he stood behind him. He struck Tidus in the back, sending him forward, almost causing him to slam into one of the other trees. Tidus spun around and swung once more, but Sora jumped out of the way. He then did a somersault kick in the air, which Sora barely dodged. Tidus grinned as he followed up with a swing of his bokken, striking Sora at the side. Sora slid to the side, clutching his bruise and wincing.

As Tidus made another charge, Sora pulled off the same move he had with Riku before; jumping over his head and turning mid-air to strike Tidus in the back, who stumbled forth and fell into the water. Sora put down his sword and peered over the edge of the plateau.

"Y-You okay?", he called down.

Tidus surfaced, shook the water out of his hair, and looked up. He waved at Sora with a smile and then hit himself lightly on the head. "Aw, man… What's up?"

Sora smiled slightly, and then wordlessly took off. I followed him as we continued to look for that last stupid mushroom.

Part IV. The Secret Place and a Moment

Sora and I raced across the bridge and the former hopped onto the roof of the small wooden shack. While I walked below, he glanced around, then jumped from the roof to the fresh water pond, where Wakka stood with his blitzball tucked under one arm. He looked at me as I came and Sora as he landed and smiled.

"Hey, guys!", he greeted. "You seen Tidus?"

"Back at the plateau.", I replied, thumbing back at the place. "Why?"

Wakka smiled mysteriously, turning to the tree and pointing at a crack in the rock at its base. The rock surrounding it was overgrown with moss and other leafy vegetation. It was dark and musty looking. As Sora followed Wakka's gaze, his eyes widened.

"Me and Tidus, we're gonna do a little explorin' today.", Wakka said. "You know, to the secret place at the base of that tree. There's gotta be somethin' there, ya?"

Sora's eyes still wide, he nodded in agreement. I got suspiscious of this.

"You're right.", he said slowly as a smile crept onto Sora's face. He turned to Wakka and patted him on the arm. "Thanks, Wakka!"

And with that, he hopped up toward the cave. Just as I was about to follow, I saw that Wakka looked confused at first, but he shrugged it off and turned to head for where Tidus was. I hesitated for a while, then headed for the cave. I bent over as I passed through the crack in the rock and then carefully approached Sora as he followed the tunnel wall with one hand. As we walked, we stared at the gnarled roots inside. Finally, Sora made it t where he ws going and I came up right beside him.

"Wow.", I said in awe as I saw the place. Sora and I were in a large hollow cavern right below the large tree. The walls were all rocks piled on top of each other, held together by the tree's long, twisted roots. There were drawings of castles, imaginary underwater places with mermaids and fish, ducks and dogs wearing clothes and walking upright, strange smiling faces, hearts, diamonds, spades and clovers, and even a ghost-like shadow creature looming over a small group of people.

It was then that Sora noticed me. He was surprised for a bit.

"Please don't tell the others.", Sora begged.

"Okay.", I immediately replied. "It's not like I gain anything from telling anybody of this."

"Thanks. Riku, Kairi, and I never told anybody else about our secret place here. We claimed it as our own many years ago. I don't know why we drew these. As far as we can tell, they weren't related in any way." We looked all over the cavern. Every rock had a drawing of some kind etched into its surface. "But the way I see it, it made the place all the more special. But the most mysterious and wondrous thing in this cave…is that door."

Sora pointed to what seemed to be a door. However, there was no handle or keyhole to be found on it anywhere. It seemed to be made of wood and had gold embroidery.

"For as long as Riku and I could remember, that door's always been there. It never rotted or decayed. The design never faded. It always looked brand new throughout the years. Hey! A mushroom."

I was a little caught of guard from the subject change when I realized that there was indeed a mushroom. It was nestled between the roots of the tree near the mysterious door. Sora walked over and pulled the mushroom out, inspecting it, and then tucked it into his belt with a grin. As Sora was about to rise to his feet, he spotted a certain drawing. I looked as well to see that it seemed to be special to Sora. It was an etching of him and Kairi.

"We drew each other, by the way.", Sora remarked as we looked. The drawings were rather crude, but it didn't matter.

Sora put one hand affectionately on the image of Kairi's face. He smiled faintly, taking a sharp rock into his hands. He then sat on the ground and began to etch something new into the rock, below the image of Kairi's face. The rock whitened with every scratch, and small, dust-like pieces of the rock rained down to the ground from the stone's surface.

Sora pulled away, gazing at his new etch, content, and with a smile. I looked to see that Sora drew what seemed to be shotting star. When I approached for a closer look, I saw that it was his arm holding out a star to Kairi, in a gesture of giving it.

As we stared at the image, we heard a noise from behind. We turned around and rose to our feet.

"Wh-Who's there?", Sora stammered.

Standing in the shadows beneath one of the roots was a figure in a long brown overcoat. The hood was so deep the figure's face was lost in the shadow. A deep voice boomed from within the darkness of the figure's hood.

"I've come to see the door to this world.", it said.

"Huh?", I asked.

"This world has been connected.", it continued.

"Wh-What are you talking about?", Sora asked.

"Tied to the darkness…" It was like the cloaked person didn't hear our questions. "Soon to be completely eclipsed."

Sora narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists. "Well, whoever you are, stop freakin' me out like this."Sora told him. His eyes then widened in a sudden realization. "Huh? Wh-Where did you come from?"

The figure never moved an inch. "You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."

We glanced at the door close by. "So, you're from another world!"

"There is so very much to learn. You understand so little."

"Oh, yeah?", Sora said, his voice growing as he challenged him, eyes narrowed. "Well, you'll see. I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!"

"A meaningless effort.", came the voice. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

As Sora turned back to the door, with nothing to say to the mysterious figure. I cotinued looking however, and saw that the figure was turning away. Just then, a black portal appeared from behind the figure. The figure turned around and crossed it. Before I could inform Sora about it, he was gone.

KHKHKHKHKH

Putting the recent episode behind us, we returned to Kairi and Sora handed her the last mushroom.

"Thanks, Sora! I found something today, too. Here, it's yours." Kairi pulled out a Hi-Potion and handed it to Sora. "You too." She also handed one to me.

Sora laughed as he took it from her. "Is this all you ever have for me, Kairi?"

She screwed her face up in an attempt to look mean. "Hey, no complaining, Captain!" Then, as if she couldn't hold it back anymore, Kairi smiled. "Tired? Wanna call it a day?"

"Yeah, we should get home soon.", Sora said, slowly glancing over his shoulder like he was expecting something to be there. He then looked up into the sky, noticing that it had suddenly gotten darker. I noticed it too, but I felt it wasn't the night coming in.

"Okay!", Kairi said with a giggle. "Tomorrow's the big day! We should rest up!"

Both Kairi and Sora walked together toward their boats. I followed them from behind, but as Sora was about to jump into his boat, Kairi walked to the end of the dock and sat down, dangling her feet. Sora tilted his head slightly to one side, confused, then walked over and sat next to her. I waited behind them, and watched the sunset with them.

They sat in silence for a while, looking out toward the horizon at the sunset. Sora leaned back, propping himself up with his arms as he stared out into the sunset. He smiled as he watched the water gleam in the light.

"You know, Riku has changed.", Kairi suddenly said in a serious tone.

Sora looked over at Kairi curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Well… hmm…"

Sora kept his gaze on her face. "You okay?"

Kairi looked over at Sora, a faint, cheerful smile on her face. "Sora, let's take the raft and go. Just the two of us!"

"Huh?"

She looked away quickly, returning her attention to the horizon. She giggled, rocking slightly back and forth. "Just kidding."

I was a little confused. Why were they talking about such a personal moment while I was around? Did they forget I was here? If so, I guess it's a good thing. Sora looked away slowly, also gazing into the fiery sunset.

"What's gotten into you?", Sora asked her, his voice shaken with nervous laughter. "You're the one that's changed, Kairi."

"Maybe. You know, I was a little afraid at first, but… Now I'm ready! No matter where I go, or what I see, I know I can always come back here." She looked at Sora with a smile. "Right?"

He looked back at her, slightly taken aback, and nodded. "Yeah, of course!"

"That's good.", she said quietly, looking into the sunset again. She took a deep breath. "Sora, don't ever change."

"Huh?" He watched with wide, alarmed eyes as Kairi rose to her feet.

"I just can't wait.", Kairi said, even quieter than before, putting her arms behind her back. "Once we set sail… it'll be great."

Sora leaned back, looking back out into the sunset. Just before I could follow them as they boarded their boats, I was grabbed from behind, and a handkerchief was placed over my face. I ended up breathing whatever was on it and was out like a light.

KHKHKHKHKH

Again, I was hearing voices.

_"Now what was that, son?"_

_"I didn't tap him on the head like before."_

_"You used a drugged handkerchief?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"…Provided the powder wasn't too much, good job, soldier."_

_"Thank you, sir."_

_"Now why did you do that?"_

_"Don't you remember, sir? When he wakes up, he's supposed to find a bag we'll provide."_

_"Oh, right. And we're not supposed to help him out directly. After all, that's what the SC is about."_

_"Also, we got a different mission."_

_"Oh, that. Well, let's go."_

_"Not until after we take him somewhere safe for the time being. It's getting dark and I don't think it's just the night."_

_"Good thinking, son."_

-I know, not god at all, but like I said i the last chapter, I never personally stayed overnight in somebody else's house. See ya on Third.-

(1) Banango, if you will.

(2) And they were green, not brown like most coconuts seen on TV.

(3) The guys who knocked me out did it.


	4. Chapter 3: Departure

?: QUERY. WHAT IS IN RED BOX?

nightelf37: The what?

The one talking to nightelf37 was Goltron Mk II, a member of Team Virtupets. (It is a robot, hence the capital letter speech.)

Goltron: ERROR. CORRECTION. WHAT IS IN SILVER BOX WITH RED FEATHER DECAL?

nightelf37 goes into a state of shock.

nightelf37: Angrybirdsangrybirds. Angrybirdsangrybirds…

Goltron: ERROR. DOES NOT COMPUTE. ERROR WITH NIGHTELF37. COURSE OF ACTION: DO HIS PART. REMEMBER, ONLY PLOT AND ORIGINAL CHARACTERS BELONG TO—. ERROR. PLOT DOES NOT BELONG TO NIGHTELF37. BASED ON ORIGINAL PLOT, BUT POSSIBILITY OF DIFFERENCES ABSOLUTE.

Chapter 3: Departure

Part I. Enter The Rest

_"All right. Open the portal."_

_The Story Crew member stood in front of the portal as it opened._

_"What do you plan on doing?", the Chia agent asked._

_"I'm going after them so I can make sure they accomplish their task."_

_"Promise me they'll return."_

_"I won't promise it. But I will try."_

_Just before he could make a step, two figures swiftly bypassed him and went in. Just before they disappeared inside, he thought he heard one of them say, "I can't believe this actually worked."_

_"Wait for me!"_

_Before the SC member could reorient himself, he was knocked down by another figure, who passed through the portal as well._

_"Oh no."_

_"Who were those?"_

_"Those were the other members of Squad Meridell."_

_"You mean the big red_ female_ Ixi, the green Shoyru who is like a Jedi, and the orange Gelert who has a habit of arguing?"_

_"Yes."_

_"How did the Shoyru get a lightsaber, anyway?"_

_"A gift from a TNT 'staff member' named Bye-Gon Jinx."_

_"What about the ability to use the Force?"_

_"I have no idea. Perhaps from him too."_

Part II. Darkness Sets In

I woke up groggily, trying to get my bearings. Just then, I realized it was nighttime. There was also a storm, but it didn't seem to be raining. I slowly got up and felt something on my side. I turned and got up to see it's a leather backpack that seemed to be colored yellow. It had two small, but wide side pouches. On it was a note. I read it:

"Heward's Handy Haversack.", I read. "Like most 'hammerpace bags', it can hold more than it looks like it can. Unlike most 'hammerspace bags', this bag brings on top any item you're thinking of. For example, if you were to place a dagger inside the haversack and cover it with a load of paper, upon searching for the dagger it would magically appear above the paper." There was another note. All it said was "Use it well." There was also an orange circle, with an open book colored in blue and white inside it.

"Whoever you are, thank you.", I said as I stuffed in my Hi-Potions and water bottle inside the bag. As I then put it on, I saw several paopus headed my way by way of the strong wind. For some reason, I was inclined to collect them and put them in my bag.

After two minutes of that, I realized there was a large blue-black colored orb in the sky. Its core glowed a sort of pinkish-orange color, and all across the surface of the orb were strings of what could only be described as lightning. As I looked around, I realized it wasn't a storm. The clouds weren't gathered, and the water was calm. But it didn't look good regardless as I realized the wind was coming from the orb…or going to it.

Just then, something dark rose up from the ground. It was bent over, its front limbs lowered to the ground, making it look like a giant black ant with glowing yellow eyes. It bounced about, constantly shifting its weight from one crooked leg to the other. More and more of its kind soon joined it. I widened my eyes in fear.

The shadow creatures from my dream.

"Son of a—", I cussed before cutting myself short.

As they started to corner me, I realized I had to run. Even if this might be all a dream, I didn't want to take the risk of getting hit without a means to defend myself. As it turned out, I was close to the wooden tower with the zipline. I didn't want to use it, but seeing there was no other way, I made my way there and climbed the ladder.

Just as I ascended the first rung, I felt one of the shadow creatures scratch at my leg. It was nothing serious, but it proved that I was indeed awake. I finally made it to the top, and I saw the shadows no longer chasing me. They were unable to climb. I sighed in relief from my moment of reprieve. I then decided to look into my new bag for something…anything that could help me in the situation at hand. However, after looking, I realized that other than the stuff I packed, the only thing inside was a small rectangular object.

Just as I decided to pocket it, I saw a shadow creature start to appear right next to me. As I frantically close my bag and put it back on, I kicked the shadow in panic. It was only pushed back a little. Quickly, I took the wooden slider and held on for dear life as I rode the zipline. Eventually, I made it to the other side and then went down the ladder. However, I then saw the shadow creatures appear below me. I couldn't stay at the tower, since a shadow might appear there. Left with no alternative, I let go of the ladder and landed right on top of one of the shadows.

My fall was broken by the shadow as I fell on it, but as I stepped out, it rose again. Immediately, I continued to run. Along the way, I ran into Sora, who had his wooden sword on hand.

"Rael!", he gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know either, but I think we should stick together!", I shouted in return.

As we ran I asked Sora, "Why are you here?"

"I was worried about the raft, and when I came, I saw the boats of Riku, Kairi, Florina, and Windelle!"

"How do you know it was their boats?"

"They all have special markings, so I was able to tell!"

"Where are we going? Shouldn't we be looking for the others?"

"I saw Riku at the plateau!"

"Okay! Let's head there first!"

After a while, we made it to the plateau, where Riku was looking out into the horizon. Again. This time, to our surprise, Windelle stood beside him.

"Where's Kairi?", Sora screamed, half angry, half panicked. "I thought she was with you!"

"The door," came Riku's voice, "has opened…"

Riku's voice was surprisingly even and calm.

I narrowed my eyes, confused. "What?"

"The door has opened, guys!" Riku said as he turned to face us, his voice louder. "Now we can go to the outside world!"

"What are you talkin' about?", Sora shouted, clenching his hands into fists. "We've gotta find Kairi!"

"And Florina too!", I added.

"They're coming with us!", Riku shouted back, his voice trembling with excitement, a strange gleam in his eyes.

Sora was taken aback, his eyes widening.

_What's wrong with Riku?_, I thought as I looked at Windelle, who hasn't moved an inch.

"Once we step through, we might not be able to come back.", Riku said matter-of-factly as the two looked up at the glowing orb, which hovered directly above them. "We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance." Riku sounded calm, remorseful even. But… his words… they didn't seem right. "We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

Riku and Windelle turned to us, a hint of a smile on their faces and an almost maniacal gleam in their eyes. They calmly outstretched one hand toward us. I was clearly terrified by this turn of events. Sora was feeling the same thing too.

"Riku…", Sora's voice was shaking.

"What's happening?", I asked myself.

Suddenly, a large black patch appeared right underneath the two's feet. Black tendrils reached up from the ground and wrapped tightly around their bodies, steadily climbing higher and higher. It had almost completely engulfed them. Yet they remained calm in spite of that. Their positions remained the same, one hand still outstretched.

Sora immediately ran toward them, one hand reaching out for Riku. But suddenly, a black patch had appeared around him as well, pinning him to the ground. Sora was clearly terrified as he looked back up at Riku and leaned forward, still trying to grab hold of Riku's hand.

A force pushed Sora backward, his arm thrust back toward him. Sora began to struggle, the black shadow tendrils beginning to wrap around him. Suddenly, the ground shook beneath us. As the darkness engulfed him, I stood paralyzed. I felt like abandoning Sora, but if I did, where would I go? Maybe I'd be able to find Florina, but what then? With the darkness around the island, I felt it would be hopeless anyway.

Part III. Weapons of Light

Suddenly, a bright gleam of light suddenly pierced through the darkness. It got brighter and brighter, until all the darkness was forced away. Sora was there, but Riku and Windelle weren't. Then I noticed something on Sora's right hand, his wooden sword on the ground. He was holding some kind of large key. The upper portion of it, where his fingers were tightly wound about it, was colored gold and blue. The length of it was silver, and the teeth were shaped like a strange crown. Sora gripped the key in his hand and looked up into the sky.

_Keyblade…_

I heard the voice again. Back from my dream.

_Keyblade…_

I felt the term was familiar as well as something about me looking for somebody who wielded it, but I couldn't remember. Sora looked down at the Keyblade and examined it. Dangling from the top, like a keychain on a bag, was a small pendant made up of three circles; a certain famous cartoon character came into my head; one big circle with two smaller ones attached near the top of the bigger one. Just before I could note where it was from, the shadow creatures began to appear again.

"Uh-oh!", I gasped.

Sora turned around as if remembering I was there. He picked up his old wooden sword with his left hand, ran toward the bridge, and gave it to me as he passed. As I stowed the sword in my bag, he turned to me and motioned to follow. As we ran, we saw the shadow creatures spawn all around us. I felt I knew what they were supposed to be called, but the memory was fuzzy in my head.

Just then, a shadow spawned right in front of me. Before I could get hit, Sora thrust his new weapon right at it and it was immedately destroyed. He continued to strike every shadow creature that came in our way. Once they were gone (for the moment), we continued running. Just then, we encountered Florina, who was lookng around, lost.

"Florina!", I called.

"Guys!", she said. Just then, the wind got stronger. It pushed Florina right at us, and I caught her in my arms, almost falling over from her weight and velocity.

"You okay?", I asked her.

"Where's Windelle?"

"Gone. And so is Riku."

Suddenly, Florina threw herself at me and cried. Sora stood guard, ready to attack any shadows that tried to attack. After a while, she stopped and calmed herself down. About time too as shadows began to appear all around us. Sora would be able to take them all on, but not while protecting Florina and me at the same time. Sora did his best anyway, but I saw one of them head for me. I thought of defending and suddenly, a riot shield appeared in my right hand as the shadow struck it. It was rectangular, seemed to be made of some kind of sturdy, lightweight metal and had a hole in it for me to see through when I hide behind it.

Suddenly, more of the shadows appeared. And they were too much for Sora to handle. I went to Sora, put Florina between us, and defended from both sides as best as we could.

Just before they could attack, there was a shining light and they backed away. When the light faded, I saw that on my left hand was something. It looked like a gun of some kind, but there was a lens on where there would be a scope if the gun were a rifle, which it isn't. It was more like a pistol, and there wasn't a guard around the trigger like most guns. It was also colored white.

I looked at Florina's right hand and saw something that looked like the gun I had right now, only it was colored yellow. (1) She noticed it and when we realized we now had weapons, we aimed for the shadows, which started to strike again. We fired our weapons and yellow lasers emerged from the barrels, headed straight for the shadows and destroying them in one shot. (2)

_DirLuxGun…_

It was that voice again. Upon hearing it, I suddenly knew that DirLuxGun was the name of my weapon. The voice then spoke again.

_RefLuxGun…_

This time, I knew that that was the name of Florina's weapon. I assumed she knew it too. After eliminating the immediate threat, Sora continued running. Since there was nowhere else to go, we followed.

Part III. Apocalypse

We followed Sora all the way to the tree leading to his secret place. However, there seemed to be a door in the way. I then remembered that this door was from my dream. Sora then raised the Keyblade toward it. We waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Sora moaned and began to run in place, restless. Florina and I looked around, nervous.

"Agh, screw it!", Sora grumbled.

He tucked the Keyblade into his belt and was just about to grab the door handles when suddenly, the door opened on its own. Sora stepped back in alarm and we turned around to see it open. We hesitated slightly before heading in through the crack in the rock. We quickly walked down the earthy tunnel, There was something here. Something was different. Something… had changed.

We entered the cavity beneath the tree and screeched to a stop, as we saw somebody.

"Kairi!", Sora gasped.

Kairi was standing in front of the strange wooden door, like she was staring at it all this time. She slowly turned around at the sound of her name. There was something different about her. She looked drained, almost sickly. Her eyes were half shut, her arms were limp at her sides. Her eyes moved like she was vaguely aware that there was anything in front of her.

"Sora…", Her voice was slow. Sora's eyes widened at the sight of her, and the sound of her voice.

She began to lift one arm slowly, outstretching it to Sora. Sora lifted one hand toward her in return. I felt there was something wrong with her. Kairi's eyes then began to widen. She seemed to be terrified of something…

The door behind her suddenly exploded open and some dark force flushed out like a strong wind. Sora had to shield himself from the blast. I brought out my shield and hid myself and Florina behind it. I looked through the shield's hole and saw the wind push Kairi forward. Sora looked up at her and stretched out his arms in an attempt to catch her. Kairi opened her arms slightly, ready to grab onto Sora… who's arms closed around… nothing. Kairi had vanished!

"What…?", I gasped as we looked up into the newly opened doorway. Suddenly, the force strengthened, and the three of us were knocked off our feet and sent careening backwards down the earthen hallway, tumbling head over heels until we popped out on the other side. The next thing we knew, we were on the sand. We got up and when we looked around, we wish we hadn't.

"Whoa!", Sora gasped.

The entire island had been destroyed! No, the entire **world** had been destroyed! All that remained was a small spat of the island. There was no more water, no more mainland, no rocks, no trees, no anything! I felt cold, and I assumed Florina and Sora felt the same thing, unable to do anything but watch, feeling pathetic and helpless to stop these horrible things from happening.

We spun around and rose to our feet. Above us was the glowing orb. It seemed to have enlarged. Debris from the island was spinning around us as though we were in the eye of the tornado. They seemed to be getting sucked into the orb. The whole world had gotten sucked up by that giant glowing orb. All that was left was the small piece of island we were on, a few surviving wooden planks, the three of us, and something that had come back to haunt me; the giant monster from my dream.

It loomed over us ominously, its yellow eyes peering out from the tangle of tentacles wrapped tightly about its face, its claws, its curled feet, the giant heart shaped hole in its middle…

"We got nowhere to run.", Florina began to say as she gripped her gun tightly. "We got nowhere to hide. We have no choice but to fight."

I got up as well, weapons in hand. Sora also got up, gripping his Keyblade tightly and he seemed to be seriously angry. He then charged right at the shadow monster. He leapt into the air, the Keyblade raised high over his head.

"This is all **your** fault!", he screamed in rage.

Quickly, we assisted and fired away at the monster as the Keyblade sliced vertically downward on the monster's hand. The monster released a cry of fury and pain as the tip of the Keyblade was pushed deeper into its skin. Sora pulled himself up onto its arm, then grabbed the Keyblade with both hands and pulled the tip back out. He then began to half-run, half-stumble up the length of the monster's arm toward its head. As Sora approached the giant's face, it turned slightly to look at him with its large yellow eyes.

As Sora struck at the monster's face with the Keyblade, we fired there as well, making sure not to accidentally hit Sora. Just then, the creature slammed its hands into the ground, sand rising from the ground with the impact and flying up into the glowing orb above them. The force of the blow knocked Sora back to the ground and right into me as he fell from the monster's shoulder. We both got up and turned back to the monster to see what was happening.

Whether we won or not, the force of the tornado we were caught in had intensified. Sora ran to the side, grabbing onto the first thing that he saw; a portion of the dock. Florina and I followed suit. Suddenly, the monster's feet began to lift up off the ground. I gasped in horror as the monster got pulled into the air. The orb was sucking it up, too! I turned away as we held on to the wooden planks.

The wind was getting stronger with each passing second. Our feet began to lift up off the ground.

"It's hopeless!", I screamed. "Whether we make it through this storm or not, we won't survive on this patch of land!"

"What do you suggest we do?", Sora screamed in return. "Let go to our doom?"

"Maybe it's a portal!", Florina shouted. "We've got to try!" She then stretched out her hand to me. "Hold on!"

Before I could do that, we lost our grip on the wooden planks and we found ourselves flying right into the giant orb, screaming all the while. I immediately lost consciousness some time later.

-See ya on Third.-

(1) The old one stated it was red, but I realized that that was the color of Django's GunDelSol, so I changed it.

(2) The GunDelSol in the _Boktai_ games shoots a ball instead of a short beam.


	5. Chapter 4: Traverse Town

nightelf37: Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot? I based it off of the original game.

Goltron: SEQUENCE CORRECT.

nightelf37: Oh, shut up.

Chapter 4: Traverse Town

Part I. Send a Message

_"Oh no. Where did the portal take them?"_

_The Chia agent was looking at the screen with the SC member._

_"They've been taken to different worlds, not the ones where the other four were sent. Thankfully, their memories are intact."_

_"Is there a way to get a meggase to them?"_

_"Meggase?"_

_"I mean message. My bad."_

_"I think there is a way. Tell me the message and I'll send it."_

_"Okay."_

Part II. Another Strange World

When I came to, I felt like that last ordeal was over. I opened my eyes to see that I was in a dark alleyway. I turned my head around to see a garbage dump, and a few barrels and crates. I then realized I was all alone. I quickly got on my feet and yelled out, "Florina! Sora! Where are you guys?" But there was no reply. I sighed and felt something heavy on my back. I realized it was the bag I found during the storm. It was still there. However, I was holding nothing. My shield and "DirLuxGun" were gone. Just as I thought of them, they appeared on my hands.

"Whoa!", I gasped.

It was one of the strangest things I'd ever seen before. While I have seen instances of it elsewhere, it never happened to me personally. Just then, I saw the shadow monsters back from Destiny Islands appear from both sides. I immediately shot at them as fast as I could and they disappeared. Suddenly, the DirLuxGun began to flash, and just as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished from my grip with a twinkle of small yellow lights. A few seconds later, as I had the feeling of safety, my shield vanished the same way.

"It appears and disappears.", I mused to myself. "I wonder if I can just make it appear at will?"

For a moment, I stood there, staring at my hands and willing my shield and DirLuxGun to appear. And, just like magic, they would appear in my hands and then vanish whenever I wanted it to, doing both with a glimmering twinkle of yellow lights. The shield always appeared on my right hand, and the DirLuxGun on my left.

"Hmm… it looks like it knows I'm left-handed. Good."

I then decided to leave the alleyway. As I reached the main section of the district, my eyes widened in alarm. The neon lights from the nearby shops and the few scattered street lamps lit the town up. One of the signs read "Traverse Town."

I looked to the sky and saw it was nighttime. I then looked out into the street and at the people who wandered about. I felt nervous, since I was on my own once more and there were plenty of strangers in this place.

"A town.", I figured. "But I never been to a place like this before." Just then, I saw a small white critter with a pink ball sticking out of its head walk nonchalantly down the street among the definitely-human people. One word popped in my mind.

_Moogle. This must be a Final Fantasy world._, I thought._ But which one? _I haven't played much Final Fantasy games back home, but from what little I knew, this wasn't from anywhere I was familiar with.

I took a few steps back, shaking my head slowly from side to side. I then decided to walk. For some reason, I didn't go into any of the shops, seeing that I had nothing to pay with. As I walked, making sure not to bump into anybody, I thought of what happened.

_Man, this is getting weirder and weirder. First, I end up in a dream world where I was 'trained' to fight. Then, I wake up in an island world, where kids play by sparring with one another. And then, that world gets sucked up by darkness. And now, I'm in yet another world, only this time, it's a town. Just what is happening to me?_

I didn't realize that I was now in front of a door, but the second I did, I bumped right into it.

"That door leads to the Second District.", came a voice as I took a few steps back, groaning in pain. I spun around and saw a man resting near a set of barrels. "Beyond that lies the Third District."

"Thanks.", I found myself saying.

"You're welcome. Take this." He tossed me a small yellow bag emroidered with gold. On it was also a 'tag' sewn in place. It looked like it was supposed to have a name on it, but all I saw was the number 0, which was on the right.

"That bag's for holding munny.", the man said.

"Munny?"

"In case you aren't in the know, it's the currency the shopkeepers use. They are also dropped by the shadow monsters found in this town, I forget their name. I understand why you're confused as to why I'm helping you, being a stranger and all, but I help newcomers to this town."

"Newcomers?"

"Once in a while, greenhorns such as yourself end up in this place, and I…I think I've said enough. Go on ahead, kid."

As the man turned around, I thought I saw an orange circle somewhere on his coat, but I put the thought aside, pocketed the munny bag, and went through the door, entering the Second District. (1)

It might've been from the lack of lighting the First District had, but the Second District seemed to be in a shade of blue and gray. There were two levels; the lower one looked like it was used for large crowd gatherings, as it was mostly empty and flat. The only things decorating it were a few benches at the wall and a fountain on the wall nearest a set of stairs leading to the upper level. The upper level didn't have much, apart from a few shops with dimly lit display windows. From the entrance, the upper level split into two walkways; one led to the set of stairs, the other led to a large building that had a series of archways on the roof.

I walked in slowly, just looking at my surroundings when suddenly men with knives came from above and surrounded me, most likely to steal whatever I had. Despite my panicked state, I summoned my shield and DirLuxGun to defend myself. For some reason, the men didn't so much as react to the fact that their victim suddenly has a weapon. Just then, a strange sound resounded in the air. It seemed almost familiar, though I couldn't quite place it. Then, the shadow monsters began to appear all around us.

Immediately, the thieves decided to save their own skins and fled. Just then, one of the shadow monsters pounced on one of the men, and the rest of the shadows dogpiled him. His companions didn't stop running as I shot down the shadows, which ejected green and yellow orbs when they were defeated, unlike the ones back at the island and the alley. When I approached the green orbs, they came to me, imbued themselves in and I felt rejuvenated. When I did the same with the yellow orbs, they came…and entered my pocket, where my munny bag was.

Once the shadows were gone, the man rolled over onto his back, staring at a spot in the air, breathing in short gasps. Before I could think of calling for help, a spot on the left side of the man's chest gleamed, and a glowing heart appeared. It hovered over the man for a moment as he began to grow transparent and eventually fade. At the same time, what looked like a small black hole appeared close to where the man was. The heart began to haphazardly move to the black hole until it merged with it and vanished. In its place appeared something that looked like a bigger version of the shadows I was fighting seconds ago, but dressed in dark soldier clothes, complete with a shiny metal helmet. It was there for a moment, and then vanished in a flash.

Seeing there was nothing left I could do, I then decided to look at the munny bag and I saw that the 0 was now a 23.

_So that's what the number is for._, I realized. _It's for checking the amount of munny. Too bad I got so little…_

Now that I had munny, I noticed a building that had the neon sign "Refugee's Asylum". I figured it was a hotel and decided to enter, see how much it was to check in. If I didn't have enough, I could always hope for shadow monsters to come out and I can destroy them for munny.

KHKHKHKHKH

The hallway was empty. Along the sides were small tables with flower vases decked on their surface, usually positioned next to the doors. I walked down the hall and it to the other end, where there was a clerk desk. I decided to ring the bell.

"Yes? What would you like?", came a voice.

"I was wondering how much it costs to stay for one night?", I asked.

"This isn't a hotel. This is an apartment. Look for the Second District Inn."

I sighed in disappointment from my mistake. Just then, I heard someone come over. I turned to see a (somewhat) familiar face.

"Rael?", she said.

"Huh? Do I know you?", I asked, feeling I've seen her somewhere before.

"How did you get out of the islands?"

It then hit me. How could I have forgotten that yellow dress? "Selphie? Is that you?" (2)

"Yes! Come!" Selphie took my hand. "They'll be happy to see you!"

"Who? Whoa!", I gasped as she led me up a stairway.

Part III. Exploring the Town

I was now in a room in the apartment. Inside the room were, other than me and Selphie, Wakka and Tidus.

"Hey there!", said Wakka. "I can't believe you made it!"

"I can't believe it either! How did **you three** make it out of the islands?"

"Not just us. Gregorio and Yoris too, but they're out at the moment."

"How did you get a room?"

"I think that guy who helped us out was the one who's paying.", Tidus said.

"Who?"

"Oh, I forgot to explain.", Selphie said. "You see, when that storm came, we saw a space ship come down. A white human-shaped figure emerged from it and started to run about, looking for something. Or someone. Just then, black monsters started to emerge everywhere. Everyone in the island started to panic and they ran about. We ran about too, and at some point, the five of us managed to gather together."

"Wasn't there any evacuation or anything?", I asked.

"I don't think there was any.", Tidus said.

"Okay." I turned to Selphie. "Please continue."

"Anyway, when the five of us gathered, we looked around and saw what was happening. People were falling to the ground, hearts were coming out of their bodies, these were engulfed by the darkness, and they turned into more of the shadow monsters. Just then, we caught sight of the ship the white figure used and decided to make a run for it. We made it to the ship, but we didn't know how to enter.

"Then, more of the shadow monsters came to attack us, but the white figure rushed in and attacked them into oblivion with his bare…limbs. Upon seeing us, he looked angered, but then he sighed. He opened the ship and got us in. I felt sad about leaving our home, but the white figure assured us it'll come back, even if it wasn't him who did it. Eventually, he brought us to Traverse Town, bought us a room, and told us to stay here."

I sighed. "It's so good to see you guys are safe."

"Where are the others?", Tidus asked.

I sighed once again and racked my brain to remember. "You see, the others …they were on the 'play island'."

"What?", he gasped.

I explained to them what happened on the island, starting from when I woke up, to meeting up with Sora, to seeing Riku and Windelle disappear into the darkness, to Sora getting the Keyblade, to me and Florina getting our guns, to what happened at the Secret Place with Kairi, to our fight against that giant dark monster, to getting sucked into the dark orb, to everything that happened to me until now. Even though I promised Sora not to tell them about the Secret Place, I thought that it didn't matter since Destiny Islands was no more. I took them a while for this to sink in, but they eventually understood.

"What happened to Florina and Sora?", Selphie asked.

"I don't know. I hope they made it here though. After all, I'm here." I paused for a while. "Well, I think I'll go look for Gregorio and Yoris."

"Okay.", Wakka said. "See ya."

KHKHKHKHKH

I left the apartment, relieved that the others were okay. That left Florina, Windelle, Sora, Riku, and Kairi. As I left the place, I then made my way down the eeriely empty street, Just then, I heard that strange noise again. Before I knew it, more of the shadow monsters appeared. Grunting, I summoned my weapons and fired at the shadows. I managed to get most of them, but then some of them melted into the ground. Even as I continued to shoot at them, they were as invincible as the silhouettes all things out of matter (solids, liquids, and gases) project.

Whenever they rose out of the floor, it was when they were behind me. I tried doing the maneuver I did back in the dream, but without the voice's warning I either ended up getting hit before I could do it, or turned too much and got hit at the front. In one of those hits, I was sent to the floor. I dodged some of their close attacks by rolling on the ground, dismissing my shield beforehand. As I did that, some of them ended up in front of me and I only had to shoot at them. I quickly got up and saw that I was surrounded.

Suddenly, I had the crazy idea of hopping on them. I jumped and landed on one of them. I quickly hopped to the next one and traversed through the flood of shadows. Since I wasn't able to jump as high as Sora could, it was more like running on top of them. I saw a door ahead. It led to the Third District. Suddenly, I lost my footing as I stepped off the flood of shadows and I stumbled a bit. But that door was just a short distance away. Eventually, I made it to the door, and crossed it, closing it behind me.

I leaned against the door and took deep breaths. After resting for a while, I took out one of the Hi-Potions Kairi had given me before and took a sip. I ended up quaffing the whole thing and I felt like new. I then walked forward into the Third District. It looked like the Second District, but much smaller. It looked like the area was used for performances or gatherings, considering the large, open space laid out before me, just a level lower. There was a large arched doorway a short distance away, which must've meant an exit. Probably leading to another district. Suddenly, another group of shadow monsters appeared in front of me.

"Malas naman!", I said in my native language. (3) I then turned to the door to the Second District, opened it…and saw that the flood I left was still there. Grumbling, I brought out my weapons again and fired away at them. I slowly walked forward as I went through them. Whenever one of them sunk into the ground, as soon as they headed for me, I jumped forward and continued my onslaught.

"Grr…I better head back now.", I groaned as I found a door up ahead. It didn't look like it led anywhere, just like that door back in my dream, but I entertained the possibility that it might be a portal. I quickly made my way to it. Just before I could reach it, I saw it burst open. A second before I jumped out of the way, I saw a blue-eyed, blond guy headed through the doorway. He wore a black vest with red designing along the zipper, a black beater underneath that, long baggy jean shorts, black-and-red tennis shoes, and a large black tribal tattoo on the left side of his face.

"Out of the way!", he said as I did just that. He stopped in his tracks and slid across the ground, plowing through some of the monsters as he did. He then performed a series of kicks and other martial arts moves on them, elimiating one with each move. Had the monsters been taller, I'm sure he would've thrown punches too. In seconds, they were all gone. The guy then turned towards me.

"Are you okay?", he asked.

"Uhh…yeah."

"Good to hear it! Well, gotta go! I still have an errand to run!" He then ran off through the door where I entered. I was about to warn him, but seeing what he just pulled off seconds ago, I decided he'd be able to take care of himself. Suddenly, I realized I've seen him before somewhere. But I shook the thought aside and made my way through the door, making it back to First District.

Part IV. The Sniper

I rested at the now closed door for a minute or two. Then I took out my water bottle and took a few sips. I wasn't thirsty, as that Hi-Potion seemed to quench my thirst, but it was a habit of mine. As I put away my bottle, I then took out the munny bag from my pocket (the label now read 53). I then remembered something in my other pocket. I took out the small rectangular object.

_This must be how the shield is summoned._, I thought as I took a closer look at the object, not having done it earlier as I was running for my life at that time. I then pocketed it, then walked forward. I saw that the district was empty, then I thought I saw a man in black clothes and a girl in a green top and white shorts walk into the Second District, the former holding someone in his arms. (4) Just as they closed the door, I ran towards it, curious. A few seconds later however, just as I went to the steps leading to the Second District, I heard another voice.

"They'll come at you out of nowhere."

I immediately stopped, forgetting what I just saw. "Who's there?", I asked almost nervously.

"And they'll keep on coming at you, so long as that gun remains in your possession."

I turned to where the voice was coming from and I saw a man at the stairs leading to a shop. He had long auburn hair in a ponytail and wore a black cowboy hat over it. He also wore a purple shirt, a khaki colored long jacket, black fingerless gloves and brown chaps over black trousers. I felt I saw this guy before, and he seemed very, very familiar. Before I could think of his name, he continued speaking.

"But…strange." he then rubbed his chin as he continued to stare at me with his blue eyes. "Strange that it would choose somebody like you." His hand then went to his weapon, which was a double-barreled shotgun holstered on his belt.

"What do you mean by that?", I asked.

"…Forget it.", the man said sternly as he shook his head. He then approached me and held out his other hand. "Now let's see what that thing is capable of."

"What?", I gasped in shock and dsbelief. "There's no way a rookie like me could beat a professional like yourself!"

"Whatever gave you that idea?", the man asked as he relaxed his free hand.

"I don't know, but I have no other means of defending myself."

The man sighed. "Man. I'm losing my touch. I was gonna ask you to come with me, but I ended up saying the wrong words." Then man then cocked his shotgun and aimed right at me.

"You can't be serious!", I gasped in fear as I shielded myself.

"Sorry, but I am." He then fired his weapon and I realized the battle has begun. For some reason, his gun wasn't that loud, and most are deafening.

As he begun to reload, I aimed my gun and fired at my opponent relentlessly. However, he seemed to dodge the attacks by swerving his body. It didn't help that my attacks were 'slow lasers' compared to his fast bullets. He then fired again and I hid behind my shield. When he stopped firing, I turned my shield away to fire when the man suddenly fired again. I was hit at the left shoulder, but for some reason, I didn't register a load of pain on that spot, but a little of it all over my body.

We started to strafe around the area, trading shots as we went. Just then, the man put his shotgun aside and aimed his free hand at me. I then saw blue energy and snowflakes gather around it. I then realized he was about to cast a Blizzard attack. However, I couldn't do anything as ice quickly formed around me. I felt cold for a moment, then it shattered and I was hurt from the attack.

Just then, I had a crazy notion. I found myself running right at the man and started to bash him with my shield. Unfortunately for me, he seemed to be expecting it and as he received the blows, even as I also shot, he evaded my next attacks, and started to swing his shotgun at me like a bludgeon. I was hit a few times before I managed to land a shot at his leg. As he flinched for a moment, I quickly increased my distance from him. The man then raised his hand into the air. A second later, I was hit by a lightning bolt. For some reason thankfully, I wasn't instantly killed or seriously injured, but it hurt as much as the Blizzard.

"Oww…", I groaned. "The Thunder spell."

I knew that there was nowhere to run, so this had to end quickly. As the man approached me slowly, his shotgun aimed at me, I frantically fired away at him. He flinched from the attacks but kept his aim true. I then brought up my shield to defend myself and then the shotgun was fired. It went through my shield's hole and hit me smack on the head, dealing serious pain. I was knocked off my feet, I let go of my shield, and fell to the ground. Before I could use the oher Hi-Potion to heal myself, I felt a shot hit my stomach and I lost consciousness.

KHKHKHKHKH

Again, I was hearing voices in my subconscious.

_"Nice shot, Irvine.", a female voice said._

_"Honestly, I didn't think I'd be able to make such a hit.", replied the man I fought against. He then sighed. "Still…looks like things are a lot worse than we thought."_

_"Let's take him back."_

_"Way ahead of you."_

Part V. Explanations

"Are you awake?", I heard a voice.

I grumbled in response, still tired from that last ordeal.

"You okay?", the voice asked. It belonged to a girl.

"I guess."

"Those creatures that attacked you did what they did because you wielded that Gun of Light."

"Are they after my heart?" I remembered the thief who was 'converted' by the horde of shadow monsters during my first visit at Second Deistrict.

"Your heart's not their main concern, but they would still take it anyway."

"Florina, is that you?" I hoped it was. It almost sounded like her.

"Who are you talking about?" The voice suddenly sounded a little more different. It was still female and gentle, but it was no longer that of my 'lost friend'. Just then, my hand landed on something. It felt like a disc, but it had two triangular holes inside. I felt around the disc and fond out that it had two protrusions on two sides, but pointing in the same direction. "Umm…that's my Blaster Edge."

Upon hearing that word, I instantly opened my eyes. My head was turned to the side as I lay on a bed. A brunette girl was the one talking to me, I realized. Her hair reached to the middle of her back and had three caramel highlights. She wore a long, sleeveless, blue-hued rib-knit duster sweater that had a pair of white wing designs on the back (when I looked later), matching rib-knit arm warmers, a black halter top, a denim button up skirt, a black ribbon on her left arm, and black bike shorts that have zippers going down the front with a pair of silver buckled black boots.

"I see you're okay. I'm Rinoa." She turned to look over her shoulder and called, "Hey, Irvine. He's all right."

The man I battled with earlier emerged from the shadows of the room. He seemed to be calmer this time around.

"Sorry about earlier.", he told me. "I had no other choice."

I said nothing as I realized my left hand was on Rinoa's Blaster Edge, which was on her arm. To my left, on a small table that would've held up a vase was the DirLuxGun. "The DirLuxGun…", I said.

"Oh, the Gun of Light.", Rinoa stated as she, Irvine, and I looked at it. "We had to get it off of you to shake off those creatures. As it turns out, that's how they were tracking you."

"It was the only way to save you from them.", Irvine said. "But I'm afraid it only works once. Still, it's hard for me to believe that **you**, of all people, were chosen." He picked up the DirLuxGun and looked at it. "For some reason, your shield vanished."

Almost in an instant, the DirLuxGun broke into bright white lights, vanishing from Irvine's grip and reappearing in mine. I got up from bed as it appeared on my left hand with a brilliant flash of light. I smiled slightly and examined it.

Irvine then walked toward me and said, "I suppose beggars can't be choosers."

Setting the DirLuxGun aside, I stared at Irvine, angry and confused.

"Why not start making sense?", I asked him. "What is going on here?"

Just then, I saw a lady come in with a tray of drinks holding a pitcher of water and a few empty glasses. She had tied-up blond hair and wore an orange zippered vest extending to just above her hips and having a high collar. The lower half of her vest was worn open, revealing the midriff. Over her arms, she had dark brown arm warmers with brown gloves. She also had a long orange skirt with pockets, a silver waistband with black pants underneath the skirt, a brown belt and black shoes.

"Am I interruptiing anything?", she asked.

"Not at all, Quistis.", Irvine stated as he started to walk away and approach an open window. "In fact, I could use your help. Could you explain to our friend what is going on?"

"Okay." Quistis set the tray on where Irvine picked up my DirLuxGun. She then sat down on the bed next to me. "Could you please tell us what happened?"

Before I knew it, I was telling her everything that has happened, starting from the dream all the way to this moment. She seemed to take it all in calmly, and so did everyone else.

Quistis then started to explain. "There are several different worlds out there other than where you came from, the islands you ended up in, and this town."

"I know.", I said. Everybody raised their eyebrows in surprise. "But I didn't know that they actually existed and are real."

"How do you know that there are many worlds?"

"Well, I've read lots of books, watched lots of shows on television, and played lots of video games back in my world. They all came with their own story. Some shared with others. A few even crossed paths with one another. I always figured they all took place somewhere in different worlds that are too far for us to make contact with. In light of these events, this changes everything."

"Many of those worlds don't even know each other, so to speak. Until now. When the Heartless came, everything changed."

"The Heartless?", I echoed, feeling I've heard that word before. And not just when it referred to a person lacking morals.

"The ones that attacked you, remember?", Rinoa told me as she sat next to me on the bed.

I nodded in response. How could I possibly **not** remember them after all they did to me?

"Those without hearts. Hence their name.", Irvine continued.

"Like that isn't a big duh.", I found myself snarkily replying.

"What attracts them is the darkness in the hearts of all sentient beings that lead them to do evil things.", Rinoa continued.

"I believe you mean **sapient**, Rinoa.", Quistis corrected, then turned to me. "There is darkness in every heart, no matter how miniscule it may be."

We were silent for a minute then Rinoa decided to speak up. "Hey, have you—"

Just then, the door burst open once more. From it came the same guy I encountered on my way back to First District from Third District.

"You?", I gasped.

"Hey!", he greeted. "I think I've seen you before!"

"Where, Zell?", Quistis asked.

"Back at Third District. When I used that portal door we set up."

"Who knew?", Irvine grumbled. He then turned to Zell. "What errand did you run this time?"

"Sending a letter to somebody in the Second District Inn."

"Why didn't you use the door leading there from the First District?"

"I thought I could earn a few extra nummy—I mean, munny from pummeling those Heartless. You know, when I sent the letter through the letter box, I heard some people talking and I thought I'd listen in."

"What did you learn? Even though it might be gossip, it always helps to know more."

"From what I heard, it concerned a man named Ansem. According to whoever was talking, this man recorded all of his findings about the Heartless in a very detailed report. Unfortunately, that report was scattered across the worlds by an accomplice of his. He had a very weird name; Stickee, whatever that means. I also heard something about a 'Keyblade', but then somebody asked me to leave and I did."

I reacted to this. Keyblade? Was Sora around here? Did he make it here and I merely haven't been able to cross paths?

My thoughts were interupted as Irvine sighed and spoke up, "Anyway, the Heartless have great fear of the Gun of Light and one other weapon, I can't seem to remember what it was. probably that Keyblade Zell heard about. In any case, they'll keep coming after you, no matter what."

"Well, I did not ask for any of this.", I replied.

"The Gun of Light has a mind of its own. And for some reason, it chose you. So, tough luck."

"How did this happen?", I asked myself. "Oh wait! Gregorio and Yoris! I was gonna go look for them!"

"Where are they?", Zell asked.

"Out in the streets last time I heard from my 'friends'."

"Why don't you rest here for a while?", Quistis suggested. "You seem tired."

She was right. Even though I managed to get up, I was still slightly tired and probably not in the right shape to fight. Regardless, I got up from the bed and took a look around the room.

The room was mostly green at the walls and the doorways. The rest of the colors in the room simply complemented them. The decorations and furniture were simple and homely. There were small pictures in wooden frames hanging on the walls, and right above the doorway where Zell was currently leaning on was a green cuckoo clock. A wooden bird rocked back and forth as it ticked the seconds away. Between the center of the room and another doorway was a round wooden table with a few books on top. The other doorway had the number eight inscribed in gold on its surface.

"Where are we?", I asked.

"We're at the Refuge Asylum.", Rinoa told me.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. That was where Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus were staying. Then I remembered their room also looked a bit like this one in color scheme at least.

"We don't exactly have our own place to hide you, so we figured that our room would be a good place.", she continued.

I nodded like I understood (though I didn't) and continued to look around. I turned to the table and looked at the books. I examined each of them. They read "Close Quarters Combat for Gunners", "How to Make Your Own Portal Door", "Delivering Flying Letters", and a few other weird how-to books. I took a look at each and browsed them. Once I was done with them, (it took around a third of an hour) I then looked at the one doorway. I decided to walk toward it when Zell raised an arm to block my way.

"It's dangerous out there.", he warned. "Don't wander off."

"I'm just gonna check up with my friends back from the islands.", I explained. "They're in this apartment, too."

"Oh, all right."

He let his arm down, allowing me to pass. Just as I touched the doorknob, Irvine delivered a warning. "Sooner or later, the Heartless will find you. You'd best prepare yourself."

"Prepare myself?", I echoed.

"To fight for your life." I gulped nervously. "Are you ready?"

"Like I have a choice?", I said.

"Uh oh!", Rinoa gasped. We all turned to see an armored Heartless in the room. This looked like the one that spawned from the heart of that thief back at Second District.

"Not now!", I groaned as I let go of the doorknob and summoned my shield, surprising them a little. Rinoa got her Blaster Edge ready, Zell opened the door for me and got into a fighting stance, Quistis pulled out a chainwhip from her pocket, and Irvine loaded his shotgun.

"I have to see if my friends are safe!", I immediately said.

"Go! We'll follow!", Quistis said as she whipped the soldier just as it was about to attack her. It was knocked back for a bit, then charged again, only for Irvine to blow its head off.

Deciding not to waste my time, I immediately went to the hallway, my four companions shortly following. After taking out a couple more Heartless, I managed to reach room 10. I quickly opened the door, and saw an armored Heartless trying to attack Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka. They all had their toy weapons out, obviously in an attempt to defend themselves.

The armored Heartless lashed away at them, not knowing which one to take first. I shot at its head, but it only got knocked back for a while, right close to Selphie. Just as the Heartless could attack her, I heard a gunshot and it was destroyed. I immediately turned to see Irvine, who seemed more serious than ever compared to his fight with me.

"Are you okay?", he asked Selphie.

"I-I'm fine, m-mister.", she answered.

Suddenly, I had the notion of remembering something between the two. Just before I could remember what it was, my thoughts were interrupted by Tidus.

"What's going on?", he asked.

"The Heartless are attacking!", Irvine told them. "Stick close to somebody with a weapon. Follow us!"

"Okay!", Tidus and Wakka answered.

As Quistis and Rinoa bypassed the two of us, The three kids joined and the five of us made our way out of the apartment. There, we saw Zell uppercutting the armored Heartless he called Soldiers. I saw him knock another one into the sky, and I saw a twinkle shortly after. It reminded me of a few certain bad guys I watched on television. (5)

"Guys!", Irvine called. "I need some of you to protect the kids! Zell, you protect the one with the ball! Rinoa, look after the one with the wooden sword!"

"What about the girl with the jump rope?", Quistis asked.

"I'll ensure her safety! Take Rael and go find the leader!"

"Okay.", she turned to me. "Come."

Without question, I immediately followed Quistis to the Third District.

Part VI. The Guard Armor

Quistfis and I crossed the door leading to Third District. However, there seemed to be a wall of some kind blocking off the square. It seemed to be out of energy, and it was opaque. There also seemed to be a small logo on it somewhere. It depicted an open book. I also heard fighting on the other side. (6)

"I hear fighting over there.", I said.

"Unfortunately, we cannot help them because of the wall that's in the way.", Quistis told me.

"Isn't there another way in?"

"Unless you can jump to a height at least equal to your own, I'm afraid not."

"How is that done in the first place?"

"Tell you what? After this, we'll give you something that can help you with that."

"Really? Thanks."

With nowhere to go, we turned around and made our way back to the Second District.

"No leader there.", she said.

Just then, more Soldiers appeared in front of us to attack. Wasting no time, as they approached the two of us, I fired my gun at the first Soldier in front, which took around three shots before dying. Once in a while, when they got too close, Quistis lashed her whip at them, either knocking them back or destroying them. After a while, as we crossed a corner, I found two familiar figures wearing beanies.

"Gregorio! Yoris!", I called. The two turned to us and came over. Seconds after that, more Heartless appeared. "Naku naman! (7)" The three looked at me quizzically. "Guys, get behind us!"

"Don't you worry about us!", Yoris said as I saw something on one of the 'rings' (8) of his shorts. It seemed to be a black disc with stars depicted on it. Then, from that disc, he produced a small cannon. It was shaped like the ones in the wooden ships of old, but it was grey (not black), and had a handle on the side for it to be held.

I saw Gregorio have the same disc and he brandished a spear from it. It seemed to be slim, made of sturdy wood, and its tip was out of some kind of rare metal. Also, he insisted it was a javelin.

As they joined us, Yoris fired his cannon, and a fireball came out of it, destroying a Soldier. One of them did a spin kick and was about to hit me on the left when it was skewered by Gregorio. Quistis managed to whip a Shadow into oblivion just before it reached Yoris. I took down the last ones with a few well-placed shots.

"Let's keep moving!", Quistis said.

The three of us followed her all the way across Second District. Along the way, we saw the others fighting, although they were having it easier now. While, Rinoa shot her Blaster Edge around, Tidus did his best to hold off any approaching Heartless long enough for Rinoa to deal with them shortly. Wakka tossed his blitzball at the Heartless with enough skill so that it always rebounded back to him. While it didn't deal any damage, they somehow now have the added effect of stunning them, which gave Zell the chance to grab and toss them right into one another. Irvine was shooting down Heartless from two sides, swiftly turning around all the while, not allowing any of them to reach him or Selphie, who was huddled close to him. Seeing they were fine, we continued all the way to the door to First District.

As we made our way to the main section of the district, Gregorio, Yoris, and I went on ahead. Suddenly, we heard a sound behind us, as if something out of magic materialized. We turned around to see Quistis blocked off at the stairs. We looked around and saw that all the doors to the buildings were blocked off in the same manner (including the Accessory Shop).

"This isn't good.", I groaned, remembering that as long as the DirLuxGun remains in my possession, this conflict would never end. I then thought about the possibility of Florina all on her own, fighting off Heartless. And Sora by himself with his Keyblade.

"Ya think?", Gregorio snarkily replied to my statement, shaking off my thoughts.

Just then, Soldiers and Shadows (the first Heartless I encountered) appeared all over the place.

"You know, I never was a team player.", I said. "And I'm no good at leading either."

"Well, you better start learning.", Yoris told me. "I'm new with this cannon, too."

"Where did you guys get your weapons anyway?"

"Battle first, talk later.", Gregorio cut me off as he charged right at the first Soldier and skewered it with his javelin.

I immediately got to work on eliminiating the Heartless around me. Yoris kept his distance and shot fireballs from his cannon, taking out groups of Shadows at a time. In the midst of the battle, I failed to notice a Soldier sneak up on me from behind. I turned left…and realized I shouldn't have done that; a Soldier was about to spin kick me. Had I turned right, I may have been able to defend against the attack, but now I was exposed. Just before it could reach me, it was destroyed by a fireball from Yoris. Unfortunately, I was also caught in its area of effect and felt the heat.

"Yoris!", I called. "Be careful next time. Those fireballs hurt."

"Sorry!"

"Look out!" I then shot down a Heartless headed for Yoris seconds before it could strike him.

"All right! We're done!", Gregorio said.

Sure enough, there were no more Heartless in sight. However the barriers blocking off Quistis and the doors were still up.

"Hmm…what else should we do?", I wondered out loud. All of a sudden, a loud, almost incomprehensible voice resounded throughout the area. "What was that?"

"Up there!"

Gregorio and I looked over at Yoris, who was pointing up into the sky. Whatever it was, it seemed to be headed right at us. Immedaitely, we decided to run for it and went up the stairs to the Accessory Shop. As we made it to the shop's door, not that we'd be able to hide in there, the objects hit the ground with a loud clang, and bounced into the air. There were five of them; large, had a primary color scheme (red, blue, and yellow), and they were metallic. They were like two arms, two legs, and a torso, as revealed then they merged together. As soon as they had attached, another piece tumbled from the sky and landed with a loud clang on the top of the torso; the head. (9)

"What in tarnation?", a voice said.

We turned around to the door to see a man who was probably in his mid-fourties. He had thin blonde hair that stuck up vertically in an upside down V-shape. On the man's forehead was a pair of black pilot's goggles. We saw that he wore a white shirt, a yellow-orange utility belt wrapped around his waist, and a toothpick dangling on his mouth like a cigarette. Of course, we couldn't tell what bottoms he was wearing since it was out of our vision. He seemed to be holding open the curtains of his door to see what was happening out there.

"Uhh…hi.", Yoris nervously greeted.

"Well don't just stand there!", he said. "Get out there and fight that thing! It's the only way to make the barriers go away!"

"How do you—", I began to ask.

"Just take the darn thing down!"

"On it, gramps!", Gregorio saluted as we faced the giant Heartless.

"And the name's Cid!"

Just then, the limbs detached from the torso and begin to float around the "arena", surrounding the three of us and forcing us into the center. Our backs pushed against each other as we each stepped backward.

"Aw, man, this is bad.", Yoris groaned.

"What do we do?" I yelled as I tightened my grip on my shield.

"You heard Cid. We gotta fight it.", Gregorio told me.

"You're right. We don't really have a choice in the matter."

"Let's do it!", Yoris said.

We watched the pieces of armor float about in a wide circle around us. Then, I decided to aim for one of the arms and fired. Yoris happened to be aiming there as well as he launched fireballs at the arm. Gregorio stayed wary for attack from behind or the side. Sure enough, the other arm headed for us, and he smacked it away with his javelin. It kept coming back but he managed to hold his ground.

"One down!", whooped Yoris.

Sure enough, the one arm he and I were attacking started to shake violently, creating the most awful noise of metal scratching against more metal, before finally exploding into what seemed like purple dust and vanishing into thin air. All of a sudden, all the parts of the armor had gone crazy. They all wandered about the district of their own free will, randomly attacking, even if the nearest opponent was a good ten feet away. We were forced to scatter.

The remaining arm was throwing punches at Gregorio, who was parrying with his javelin. The torso and the head spun around in circles around the area, homing in right on Yoris. The feet stomped about the area angrily, occasionally leaping into the air and stomping back onto the ground with a loud, violent thud. They were headed right for me as I ran for it, not wanting to get crushed. I managed to jump away as one great armored foot flew high into the air and stomped the ground nearby, but the sheer force of the thud was enough to knock me flat onto my butt.

Instinctively, I rolled about to face the feet, aimed at one of them, and fired at it like there was no tomorrow. As it began to stomp around before I was able to stand, I dismissed my shield and rolled out of the way. Meanwhile, Gregorio jumped into the air like a Final Fantasy Dragoon and impaled the remaining arm with extreme prejudice. The arm shook violently before exploding into purple dust and vanishing into the atmosphere. He then ran for the next piece of armor within range; the head and torso, which Yoris was attacking.

Meanwhile, I managed to get up on my feet and I fired at the legs, one of them then exploding like the other pieces before it. I continued to attack the remaining leg, learning to retreat when it moved as my shield would protect me from such a large opponent. Eventually, I managed to take it down and it exploded into purple dust. I then turned to the torso, which my companions were dealing with. I decided to join in and attacked it even as it tried to hover out of our reach. All of a sudden, it dropped…right on top of Gregorio. After it crushed him, it rose to the air again.

I immediately went over to the spear wielder and knelt to him. I then took out the other Hi-Potion I had, and handed it to Gregorio. He imbibed its contents and he was instantly revitalized. He got back into the fight and we managed to perform a strategy of some kind. Gregorio would jump at the Heartless and strike at it, then Yoris would follow up with a fireball, and I would provide cover fire long enough for Gregorio to get ready to strike again and repeat the sequence.

After a while, the torso began to shake violently. It shook and rattled, grinding sheets of metal against each other, sparks flying from the friction. We made a break for it and watched from a safe distance in case it erupted and sheets of metal went flying in every which direction. Then, just as quickly as the shaking had begun, it stopped. The head piece dropped onto the armor, and then tumbled from there onto the ground.

The entire armor then began to glow, and we watched as a glowing heart appeared from within the torso of the set of armor. My eyes remained focused on the heart as it floated up into the sky, vanishing from view. The torso then shook one final time before it vanished into a series of soft purple lights. We then dropped to our knees in exhaustion, glad that the fight was over.

Suddenly, I felt I was no longer with my new companions. I felt everything warp around me. I couldn't even move my body. Before I knew it, I was somewhere else entirely. (10)

Part VII. Preparations

I saw a 3-D image of me, Gregorio, and Yoris glimmering in a dim light, a hazy green tint over it. This hologram of us hovered in the middle of the darkness, its dim, eerie green light cast on the figures of a considerable number of figures. Most of them looked all the same, but two were vastly different.

"Hmm…it looks like we got a new problem.", one of the generic-looking figures said. He wore samurai-like clothes and wielded a halberd.

"You think?", another one of them said. "Not only do we have the Keyblade wielder to deal with, we also got somebody possessing a 'Gun of Light' to consider."

"And his companions…", mused a third. "They seem more competent than those lackeys of the king."

"Who knows what they can do should they join forces with the Keyblade wielder?", a fourth worriedly said.

"Silence.", a fifth voice said.

The four who spoke up, as well as the others who didn't talk, turned to face him. In the darkness, he almost looked no different from the others, but his voice held a tone of authority.

"I can see his will seems to be weaker than that of the boy with the Keyblade.", he said. He then turned one of the strange figures. "You think we could implement him in our plans?"

This figure was a sinister-looking female. She stood in an almost regal stance, but her appearance suggested a dark dragon. She had yellow-green eyes that seemed to glow, gray skin, red lips curved into a wicked smile. She stared at the hologram, her long, thin fingers clutching of her staff. She moved forward slightly, her black and purple robes flowing across the stone floor.

"Why, yes. I believe there is a way we could use him."

Then, as I was apparently invisible through this whole ordeal, I turned to the other strange figure. He seemed rather plain, and blended in with the blackness of the area. All I could see of him were his red eyes, and slim, vague outline. I could already feel he was evil, although I don't know why.

Suddenly, there was a flash and I was back at the First District. Only this time, Irvine and co. were there, as well as the other island kids.

"Did I miss anything?", I immediately asked.

"Yeah, sorry.", Gregorio said. "We were just explaining to the others that the white guy who rescued us from the islands has loaned me and Yoris his Gummi Ship, the vessel he uses to travel across. As payment for rescuing us, he wants us to look for some important things for him."

"Mind if I come too?", I asked.

"Why?", Yoris asked.

"Well, I have no memories on how I ended up in the island, although I do remember my life before this. You guys are the only friends I have right now. And some of them are missing as we speak. Riku and Windelle disappeared in the darkness, Kairi vanished right from Sora's arms, and I'm sure Florina is somewhere out there as she haven't ended up here."

"What about Sora?"

"I'm not sure, but from what I inferred from what Zell heard at the Second District Inn, he probably ended up here, only we haven't seen him yet. I just have the feeling that I **must** find them. You understand? 'Cause I don't. And that is contradictory. I don't get it eith—"

"Sure. You can come.", Gregorio interrupted me.

"Thanks." I then turned to Irvine and said, "Uh, could you—"

"Don't worry. We already promised Yoris and Gregorio we'd look after Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka."

"Thanks."

"Oh, and another thing…", Yoris said. "While in the ship, there should be no frowning, or sad faces, okay?"

"Why?"

"For some reason, the Gummi Ship runs on happy faces. So you beetter smile, or at least not frown or sulk."

"Oh, all right.", I said, doing my best to smile.

"Make sure you're prepared for the journey ahead of you.", Irvine told me in a serious tone, his arms folded over his chest as he looked at me. "We don't know how far the Heartless have spread."

"Check out the shops here.", Rinoa offered. "They've got some good stuff!"

"This is from all of us.", Quistis said, holding out a small sack. I took it and looked inside. The bag was filled with small golden orbs, ranging in size, each of them labeled with numbers that ranged from one to twenty. Guessing it was 'munny', I took out my munny bag and the orbs left the sack and entered the bag, and the 'number' increased by 100. Looks like it was indeed munny.

"Thanks."

"Almost forgot. I promised I'd give you something that can help in your jumping."

"Oh yeah."

"But first, I think you should go check the shops, then I'll give you to what I pormised."

"Okay, Quistis."

After Zell pointed the place, the three of us headed to where the Item Shop was and crossed the door. Inside, the walls were all painted a faded yellow green color, except for the lower fourth, which was covered in wood. They were decorated with posters, banners, paintings and the like. Some of them had begun to peel slightly off the walls, flapping in the faint breeze coming from the large ceiling fan.

In the corner of a wall was the counter, behind which was a large shelf filled with various bottles of different kinds of potions and assorted items. Hanging directly above the shelf was a neon sign reaingd "Items", along with several images of different kinds of food and materials. Next to the counter was a metal weighing scale and a blackboard sign, which currently had "Welcome!" written on its in white chalk.

Behind the counter, next to the shelf, three young ducks dressed in red, green and blue were stacking items into the shelves. The duck in red sat on the counter, apprently to wait for us to order something. The ones in green and blue moved around the shop, carrying stuff from a certain room to the shelves behind the duck in red.

"Welcome!", the duck in red said as we came over to the counter. "Wanna buy something? Or sell something?"

"We're here to shop.", I said, trying to ignore the fact that three little ducks, who were probably kids, were running a shop, although I figured they were doing it for someone older.

"What do you wanna do?"

"We're here to buy."

"What would you like to buy?"

"Uhh…"

KHKHKHKHKH

After buying some Potions and Hi-Potions, as well as a couple more items, I also saw that were were staves and shields for sale. I asked if there were weapons for Gregorio and Yoris like cannons or enhancements for it, or spears ("Javelins!", Gregorio insisted). Unfortunately, they didn't have any, at least for the moment. The shields for sale were smaller than my own so I didn't buy any of them.

After leaving the Item Shop, we entered the Accessory Shop, which Cid was tending to.

"Hey!", he greeted. "It's the boys who took down the Guard Armor!"

"Guard Armor?", Yoris asked.

"That big armored Heartless you just fought. They've got names, you know."

"How important is it to know their names?"

"Well, there are more kinds of Heartless than just the simple Shadow and the armored Soldier you probably encountered earlier. They are as varied as the stars. At least until they started going out, that is. Y'gonna buy something?"

"Well, what do you have?"

KHKHKHKHKH

After a while, we bought the stuff we deemed necessary, and then left the Accessory Shop, only to find just Quistis there. She also seemed to be holding a medium-sized sack.

"The others have returned to the aparment to rest up.", she explained. "Here are the stuff I promised you."

She then started to take out items from the bag. The first thing was a pair of sneakers in a small bag. They were colored blue, looked durable, and had each a pair of feathered wings on the heel. The wing looked magical, and not merely a decoration.

"These shoes are your answers to your 'jumping problem'. With these, you'll be able to not only jump as high as or higher than you are tall, you can also survive falls that could otherwise kill you, dash on walls, and even jump off them."

"Who wore those before me?", I asked. "Or did you somehow knew I'd need it?"

"Irvine was the previous wearer, but these can change sizes depending on who's wearing it. Try them on. They were just washed."

I turned to the others, who shrugged their shoulders. Sighing, I took off my old shoes, revealing white, comfortable socks. I then put on the winged shoes and they changed to fit me perfectly.

"I also noticed that you get tired more easily than most people, so I'm also giving you this."

As I put away my 'old' shoes into the bag that held my new ones, Quistis took out what looked like a scooter. It seemed to be foldable, simple in design, colored yellow, and had plenty of modifications. It also seemed to be meant for floating in the air as it didn't have any wheels.

"We used Zell's old T-board and modified it into this scooter.", Quistis then gave a note to us. "Here are the instructions on how it works."

"Thanks.", I said as I took the scooter and the note and stowed it in my bag. "Well, we better get going. Where is the Gummi Ship?"

"I got something that can take us there immediately."

Gregorio took out what looked like a silver block with a large red button and a small light on a corner. Yoris held his arm, and he held mine with the other. Gregorio then pressed the button and there was a 'whimp' sound.

Gummi Ship Time: Orientation

The instant the teleportation ended, we were at a strange room. It was white, had platforms for individuals to step on, a screen showing where we just been, and a table that had copies of the contraption Gregorio had.

"We are inside the Transwarp Room of the Destiny.", Gregorio introduced. "Of course, Destiny is the name of the Gummi Ship."

"Oh.", I said.

"The Transwarp Room is where we go so we can teleport down into worlds and back. For some reason, we have to be on open ground and out of the sight of any sapient beings."

"Come. We'll show you more of the ship.", Yoris said.

As we left the Transwarp Room through a red door, as we left it, I was amazed by the inside. It was very roomy. Three mechanical white-gloved hands attached to the ceiling moved every which way. Giant tanks, engines and gauges of many unknown materials were lined up on two of the walls. The entire room hummed with the sound of revving engines. On the other side was a doorway.

"Are we in the engine room?"

"Like that isn't obvious?"

"I never been in a space ship before, so how should I know?"

"Never mind. Let's head for the cockpit."

The three of us crossed the engine room and entered a corridor. We traversed this and once we exited it, we ended up at a hallway. On our left was a wall filled with all sorts of gadgets. On our right was another doorway, which led to the living quarters, which had the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom. Across the hall was a small lift that had a sign that read "cockpit" with an arrow pointing up on its wall.

"Roomy, ain't it?", Yoris said.

"Whoa!", I gasped in awe.

I stood there for about a full minute. Gregorio and Yoris allowed me to take all of this in. They then led me to the cockpit. Yoris was on my right, and Gregorio was on my left. As we walked to the lift, I could almost feel my bag get a **little** heavier. Finally, after like ten seconds, we reached the lift. The door smoothly closed around us, and I felt us go up. after a few more seconds, the lift opened its door and I was awed by the sight.

It wasn't exceptionally large or fancy-looking like I expected, but the mere idea of being in the spaceship's cockpit thrilled me. There were three chairs lined up in front, the two on the outside set further backward than one. I assumed the one in front was the driver's seat. Gregorio immediately went to tht seat and examined all the switches, gauges, buttons and monitors that were spread across the control board at the front. Yoris went to the right chair, and I sat on the left.

"I wonder why there are three chairs.", I asked.

"You see, the guy who rescued us sometimes brings companions with him, but they aren't with him at the moment.", Gregorio explained. "When he rescued us from the islands, Yoris and I were at these seats and gave us the basics on driving this vessel."

"Why?"

"Well, he tasked us on looking for some things important to him, so we'll need to learn how to drive this thing."

"Just what are the things this white guy is asking?"

"We'll know them when we see 'em. Well, fasten your seatbelts. We're about to blast off in T minus 10 seconds."

Quickly, I fumbled for the seat belt. And just about time, I found them as the countdown reached its end.

"5…4…3…2…1…Blast off!"

All of a sudden, I was pressed into the cushion of my seat by the sheer force of the movement. His ears began to ring with the sound of the engines roaring, the change of pressure, and the sound of Gregorio's excited whoops and yells. It took longer than I thought, but the pressure soon lifted off me and I practically popped out from within the seat cushion. I moaned as I clutched my belly.

"Ohh…I don't feel so good.", I groaned.

"You'll get used to it.", Yoris said. "Tidus threw up his dinner during our first trip."

Just then, a screen came down from the ceiling and turned so I can see it. The screen then activated to reveal a face I realized belonged to a 'stick figure'

"I can sense that you are an adventurer. I am programmed to chronicle your travels. Would you please tell me your side of the 'story'?"

"My side of the 'story'? As in everything?"

"Yes. At least starting when you 'left' 'ordinary life'. It'll help in taking your mind off the airsickness, even though there is no air to speak of in space."

Before I knew it, I was telling it everything I've been through, starting back from the dream all the way to the moment now.

After I was done, the figure on the screen stayed silent for a moment, then said, "Compilation complete. Here is a Diary for your travels."

A pipe emerged from the ceiling and stopped above my lap. It then dispensed something before returning to the ceiling. The something that was dropped looked like a small diary, exactly how the white figure said but when I opened it, it was more…hi-tech than expected from the cover.

"This diary contains everything you told me about, split into the following categories. First is the 'story', don't ask. Second is the 'characters', which is divided to you and your friends, those native to the worlds you visit, and the Heartless you encounter. Third is the worlds you may visit during your travels. And that's it. More categories and entries will appear as you traverse the worlds, although the latter would be more prominent."

"Wow. This is neat."

"Now, as you are most likely tired from your previous ordeal, I shall activate the Gummi Ship's Refreshment system. Just take a rest and once you wake up, no matter how long you actually rested, you'll feel like you've rested well."

"Oh, okay.", I immediately closed my eyes and before I knew it, I was asleep.

-As you can see, I support the Selphie/Irvine pairing. Next time we return to Traverse Town, I'll explain why Irvine is like this to KH!Selphie and what happened to FF8!Seplhie. In this fic, FF8!Squall and KH!Leon are one and the same. Check my 'supplement' fic "Escape From The Heartless" for more on this. See ya on Third.-

(1) I 'changed' a few of the town's features so that there are more ways around. In case you read the 'original' Kingdom Hearts Remake 1, my path doesn't cross with Sora's until much later.

(2) I felt it would be disturbing to see them disappear from the islands, so I decided to say that she (as well as the others) were rescued.

(3) I live in the Philippines, where Filipino is the native language. What I said there is something along the lines of "Just my (bad) luck!"

(4) In case you don't know, it's Leon and Yuffie taking Sora back to their hotel. Of course, as it was from a distance and I do not jump to conclusions, 'I' wasn't able to tell it was them.

(5) We're blasting off again!

(6) Chronologically, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are there, fighting the Guard Armor.

(7) Again with my Filipino. Means something like "Aww, man!"

(8) You know, the one that keeps belts in place.

(9) I'm using the Final Mix design of the Guard Armor.

(10) I decided to 'retcon' (obviously) and explain how it feels like to experience a vision.


	6. Chapter 5: Wonderland

nightelf37: Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there, I 'own' it.

?: What's with the new disclaimer?

nightelf37: Just correcting my statement, Orie, thanks to Goltron.

Orie Dinelle is the female member of Team Brightvale.

nightelf37: I'll also use it for my other fics once I make new chapters.

Orie: What about "Neopets Warden Force"?

nightelf37: It's already completed, although I will make edits soon.

Orie: What will its disclaimer be?

nightelf37: That Neopets and their characters belong to Viacom, although my own Neopets are my creation. I also own only the plot. Carl belongs to Mrfipp, a fellow FanFiction . Net writer. Genaolu and Kawas belong to Tigrillo777 in DeviantART. That enough?

Orie: Yes.

nightelf37: Good. On with the story.

Chapter 5: Wonderland

Part I. Final Message

_"I composed the message."_

_"Good. You ready to send it?"_

_"Yes."_

_The Chia agent conveyed the message to the SC member, who then did a couple of thing to a certain gadget he was holding, then hurled it across the still open portal._

_"What did you do?"_

_"I sent the message. It will make its way to the three and they will do what you have asked them to do."_

_The SC member then turned to a giant switch._

_"What are you doing?", the Chia agent asked._

_"I'm shutting down the portal. Due to the memory loss of your agents, this mission they'll be taking won't be able to be finished in the span of a few weeks. I'm sorry. Don't worry. I promised their safety, right?"_

_"I guess."_

_The SC member flipped the switch and nearly everything shut down._

_"I shall be going now. So I can fulfill my promise to you, okay?"_

_"Will you swear with your life they'll come back?"_

_"…I will."_

Part II. Diary Entries

-I just thought I'd put these in, as I'll be putting in a Diary in the story and all. The ones later encountered in Wonderland will be inserted at the end of the chapter.-

**Rael**

A boy who mysteriously ended up in Destiny Islands. He was cast off into yet another unknown world when a swarm of Heartless raided the islands. He battles the Heartless with a mysterious weapon called a Gun of Light, and named the DirLuxGun as he searches the worlds for a reason behind his arrival.

"-Real World-"

**Florina**

A girl Rael befriended upon arrival at the islands. She introduced him to the rest of the kids in Destiny Islands. Like Kairi, she, along with Gregoio, Yoris, and Windelle, aren't natives of the islands. When the Heartless attacked the islands, she received a mysterious weapon called a Gun of Light, and named the RefLuxGun. However, during the islands' last moments of existence, she disappeared.

**Sora**

A spirited youth who is a native of Destiny Islands. When the Heartless attacked the islands, he received a mysterious weapon called the Keyblade. However, during the islands' last moments of existence, he disappeared. Fortunately, mentions of the Keyblade in Traverse Town have made assurances that he survived.

**Riku**

Islander. A self-confident youth always competing with Sora. He hated the monotony of island life and built a raft with Sora and Kairi to explore the outside world. Riku seems to have vanished along with the Destiny Islands.

**Kairi**

A girl who lived on Destiny Islands. She came to the islands on a meteor shower, with little memory of her origins.. Kairi, Sora, and Riku were best friends. They built a raft to sail out and see new worlds. During the attack on the islands, she seemed to disappear just as she reached Sora's arms. What could this mean?

**Wakka**

A boy who lived on Destiny Islands. He looks out for Tidus and Selphie like a big brother. When the islands disappeared, he and the other kids were rescued by a mysterious white figure. He, Tidus, and Selphie currently reside in Traverse Town.

"Final Fantasy X"

**Gregorio**

A boy who lived on Destiny Islands. He has a snarky attitude and is quite a skilled battler. Like Kairi, he, along with Yoris, Windelle, and Florina aren't natives of the islands. When the islands disappeared, he and the other kids were rescued by a mysterious white figure. In return, he and Yoris were assigned a task to look for some important things for him.

**Tidus**

A cheerful, self-confident boy who lived on the Destiny Islands. He considers himself a champ at everything. When the islands disappeared, he and the other kids were rescued by a mysterious white figure. He, Selphie and Wakka currently reside in Traverse Town.

"Final Fantasy X"

**Selphie**

A spunky girl who lived on the Destiny Islands. She is rather impulsive, and quite the romanticist.

When the islands disappeared, she and the other kids were rescued by a mysterious white figure. She, Wakka, and Tidus currently reside in Traverse Town.

"Final Fantasy VIII"

**Yoris**

A boy who lived on Destiny Islands. He seems to have his ways of finding out things that are kept secret. Like Kairi, he, along with Windelle, Florina, and Gregorio aren't natives of the islands. When the islands disappeared, he and the other kids were rescued by a mysterious white figure. In return, he and Gregorio were assigned a task to look for some important things for him.

**Windelle**

A boy who lived on Destiny Islands. Ever since arriving on the islands with, Florina, Gregorio, and Yoris, he hung around with Riku. He was last seen vanishing into the darkness with Riku when the Heartless attacked the islands.

**Irvine**

A resident of Traverse Town. He wield a shotgun and is an expert marksman. He also knows a little close combat, magic, and knowledge about the Gun of Light.

"Final Fantasy VIII"

**Rinoa**

A resident of Traverse Town. She is a kindly person who works with Irvine, Quistis, and Zell to ensure the safety of their home.

"Final Fantasy VIII"

**Quistis**

A resident of Traverse Town. She is a calm, gifted, and friendly woman who cares for her friends. Along with Irvine, Rinoa, and Zell, she protects the town from the Heartless.

"Final Fantasy VIII"

**Zell**

A resident of Traverse Town. He possesses unsurpassed martial arts skills and runs errands. Along with, Irvine, Rinoa, and Quistis, he protects the town from the Heartless.

"Final Fantasy VIII"

**Cid**

Owner of an accessory shop in Traverse Town. (1)

-Now that is over with, we can continue with the story.-

Part III. Meeting Up

"We have arrived."

I immediately woke up from my sleep and saw through the window what seemed to be like a small planet. What could be seem from it were an unusual looking castle and a heart shaped arch. There were also hedges, forming a labyrinth, spreading out all the way around one half of the world. The other half was simple grassland, which was rolling green and had a dirt path that zigzagged across it. The window then displayed a name: Wonderland.

"Well, well, well. Another Gummi Ship.", Gregorio said.

As we slowed down, I took off my seatbelt, got up from my seat, and saw from the cockpit that indeed there was another Gummi Ship. Gregorio pushed some buttons and a screen came up, giving a closer look. The ship was colored a glossy red, with a yellow stripe going all the way around the nose of the ship. It had large white wings on either side with smaller ones serving as rudders placed above it. A small set of cannons was stuck to the bottom of the ship as a weapons system.

This ship approached the world, and we realized it was about to land. As it did just that, the Destiny was stopped just above the world. Gregorio and Yoris then took off their seatbelts, got up, and headed for the lift.

"Where are we going?", I asked.

"The Transwarp Room, of course.", Gregorio answered.

"Oh, right."

Quickly, I followed the two as we made it all the way to the Transwarp Room. There, Gregorio went to the screen and started typing on the computer beneath the screen. The screen then activated, revealing a grassy field, most likely of Wonderland. Something caught my attention on the screen. I looked to see three figures on it.

One of them was an anthropomorphic white duck, a yellow-orange bill, legs of the same color, and light blue eyes. He wore a blue beret, which had a belt in place of a normal brim, and sported a zipper spanning the length of the hat. He also wore a navy blue high-collared jacket with sky blue lining and cuffs, and three pouches with yellow lining. He also wore a short, blue cape with yellow lining draped over his shoulders, kept in place by a silver strap. Additionally, he wore a thick, gold bangle on each of his wrists, and had no pants.

The second was an anthropomorphic dog with black fur, droopy ears, and two buck teeth. He wore an orange hat, save for a blue band in the middle, the top was an odd shape, resembling a teardrop placed on its side, and a small pair of red goggles were on the hat. This individual also wore a green turtleneck sweater with belled-out sleeves and a blue arrow-shaped strap on each cuff. He wore white gloves with a brown band around each wrist. Over the sweater, he wore a sleeveless, black combat vest with grey lining and four pockets of the same color. HIs pants were yellow, secured by a black belt, and had rather large pockets and a pouch on each leg, which had a peculiar style, with the dark orange bottom rims being pulled upward in the front by a brown strap. He also had very large brown shoes with steel toes on the outside.

However, it was the third individual that cought my attention. I was completely sure of his identity as I recognized the spiky, brown hair, and the white and red on his clothes.

"Sora?", I gasped.

"What?", gasped Yoris and Gregorio, who turned to the screen and indeed, they saw Sora there.

"I can't believe it!", gasped Yoris.

"Let's go!", I said.

"On it!", Gregorio replied as we took our positions in the Transwarp Room. Gregorio took out his contraption, pushed the button, and the 'whimp' sound came again.

KHKHKHKHKH

The moment the teleportation ended, we were in a rolling green field, under blue skies. There were trees speckled across the landscape, and there was a small pond near a field of daisies that bustled with various kinds of birds as they bathed in the water.

"Huh. Where's Sora?", I asked.

"Maybe over there!", Gregorio said, pointing in one direction. We turned to see a white, feathered butt make its way into a rabbit hole. Instantly, we rushed to it just before it disappeared inside. "Should we go inside?"

"If Sora's there, we should!", I found myself saying as I got down on all fours and crawled into the rabbit hole. Behind me, Gregorio and Yoris followed suit. All of a sudden, I began to fall headfirst into the dark abyss. Yoris followed shortly after, who was followed by Gregorio. As our screams echoed up from the endless pit, I thought I could hear a very familiar holler.

"Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!"

For some reason, our fall began to slow as we tilted ourselves around so that we were right side up.

"I guess from now on, falling down stairs isn't gonna be such a big deal, huh?", a voice said.

We looked to see that Sora was indeed here, although neither he nor his companions have seen us as they either looked down, or didn't pay attention as they looked at the walls. Dim colored lights appeared farther down the hole we fell through, mostly reds and blues, just enough to light the peculiar objects that decorated the interior.

There were mirrors placed askew on the walls, and end tables with small lights perched on them with the entire set upside down. We could also hear clocks ticking, but saw none. There were large, antique world maps and various other paintings. Nothing made sense in this strange tunnel. The large mirror we eventually came across, showing us falling in the opposite direction as we went past it, and the mere fact that we were drifting downwards rather than falling.

"What if we fall right through the middle of the planet?", the dog wondered aloud as he let himself spin around like a pinwheel.

"We'll end up on the other side, where people walk upside down.", the duck replied mockingly as he narrowed his eyes at his fellow companion and began to flip forward.

"Really?"

"Of course not.", I found myself saying. "We'd be burnt to a crisp by the planet's core before we even come close."

"Was that you, Sora?", the duck asked as he settled himself down as though he were on a cushioned chair, not thinking of looking up.

"Nope."

"Probably it's from somebody who's falling in after us.", the dog guessed as he continued to spin, lying down as though he were on a bed, propping his head up with his arms and crossing one leg over the other.

The duck and Sora looked at him, then seemed to scoff off the idea. Just then, we all saw a floor. Sora and the duck straightned themselves, ready to land. Gregorio, Yoris, and I followed suit. The dog however, continued to lay on the air. As we looked below, Sora and the duck set their feet firmly onto the floor with no trouble at all. The dog however, plopped down onto the red tile floor with a loud thud. As Sora walked to help his companion up, the duck noticed us and pointed up. He and Sora stared in surprise as the three of us landed close to them.

"Hey there, Sora.", Yoris greeted.

"Rael? Gregorio? Yoris!", Sora gasped in surprise. "You survived? What are you doing here?" (2)

"You know these three?", the duck asked as the dog got up by himself.

"Yeah! Back at the islands!"

"Who're these guys with you?", Gregorio asked.

KHKHKHKHKH

In a few minutes, we were all acquainted with each other. The duck was Donald, and the dog was Goofy. The two were on a mission to find the Key, which is Sora, and their king, who name was Mickey (somthing in my mind clicked upon hearing that name). We told them that Gregorio and Yoris were tasked in looking for some things for somebody in return for him rescuing them, as well as the other islanders (much to Sora's relief). (3)

Just before we could talk more, we noticed a white rabbit fidget around, seemingly lost. And not just any white rabbit. This one stood on his two hind legs and was wearing a bright red tuxedo jacket with a washed out yellow blouse underneath and gray trousers. He held an umbrella in one paw and a large golden pocket watch in the other. His eyes were bloodshot and he wore a pair of horse spectacles on his red nose and the fur on the top of his head was ruffled and messy.

"Oh, my fur and whiskers! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!", he said as he ran past us. "Oh dear, oh dear oh dear!" the rabbit exclaimed between pants and ragged breathing. "I'm **here**, I should be **there**!"

We all watched in silent surprise as the white rabbit began to zigzag down the peculiar red hallway and as he finally disappeared around the corner, yelling frantically the whole time.

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!", came his voice as it echoed down the hallway. "Ooh, the queen, she'll have my head for sure!"

"The queen?", Sora asked as he turned to look at us.

_I could feel this is very familiar._, I thought. (4)

"I guess there's no party then, huh?", Goofy sighed.

"Looks like that rabbit really does have something important to go to.", Donald muttered. "We shouldn't be interfering with his business. That goes against the rules!"

"Rules?", Gregorio asked.

"While we're in other worlds, we can't let on where we're from."

"Oh. I see."

"Aren't you guys curious?", Sora asked.

Donald folded his arms over his chest and raised his beak in the air. "No."

"Well, I am.", Yoris said.

"So am I.", followed Gregorio.

"After all, we're after some important things.", I said. "We'll have to explore to find them."

"Then let's go.", Sora said as he began to chase after the rabbit, running down the red and pink hallway. The five of us immediately went after him. Sora raced down the hallway until he reached a large white door stretching a ways over his head. The doorway was about Goofy's height. He peered at it curiously and then turned to check that we were following him. As soon as he saw us turn the corner, Sora smiled at us and pointed at the door.

"He must've gone through here!", he said as he turned back to the door and grabbed onto the handle. He pulled the white door open, only to find a slightly smaller blue door. Confused and even more curious, Sora pulled open the blue door by its golden handle, only to see yet another, even smaller brown door. Getting somewhat disgruntled, Sora pulled open the brown door and smiled when he saw an entry at last.

"How unnecessary.", Yoris said as we all came and, one by one, crossed it.

Part IV. A Strange Room

We ended up in a very peculiarly decorated room. Everything was in bright colors, mostly pink and violet. There was very little furniture in the room; only a stout green bed with an old, plain white mattress lying on top of it, a small wooden corner table painted beige-pink with two stout red chairs next to it, and a large stone and brick stove on the other side of the room, opposite the bed and chairs.

The floor and walls were the decors of the room, as they had various furniture painted on them, including several clocks, vases, and books. And painted out on the middle of the floor was a white table with two bottles and a matching chair. They were painted such that it made you feel like you were looking down at them from the ceiling.

We gazed around, confused and disoriented by the bright shades of pink. Suddenly, we saw something move across the floor. It was the white rabbit. Shrunk. The rabbit dashed through a small wooden door on the bottom of the wall straight ahead of us, which promptly closed behind him.

Sora moved to the door and crouched down in front of it. Donald and Goofy followed suit, squatting down on their knees on either side of Sora. Gregorio, Yoris, and I looked over the three to see the small wooden door and its big golden doorknob that almost looked like a face.

"How did he get so small?", Sora wondered.

The doorknob's eyes opened and looked up at Sora. "No, you're simply too big."

Donald leapt back with a loud quack, his blue hat practically flying off his head. "It talks!"

Sora jumped back slightly, his eyes wide in alarm and his jaw droped. Gregorio and Yoris merely raised their eyebrows in surprise. I was taken aback for only a second. Only Goofy did not seem as surprised as his companions. He blinked once or twice in shock with a slight "ahyuk". We all then leaned in slightly to the talking doorknob, which shut its eyes and yawned, the keyhole of the knob serving as its mouth. It opened its eyes again when it was finished and stared up at us.

"Must you be so loud? You woke me up.", it said.

"Good mornin'.", Goofy greeted.

"Good night. I need a bit more sleep."

"Wait!", Sora yelled out. leaning so that their faces were level. "What do we have to go to grow small?"

The doorknob rolled its eyes slowly. "Why don't you try the bottle…behind you?"

We all turned around to see the table and chair imprinted on the tile floor explode out of the ground and become "3D". Sure enough, on the surface of the table were two bottles; one with a red label and the other with a blue one.

"What a bizarre room.", Gregorio noted as we all rose to our feet and turned to look at the table and the two small bottles on its surface. Both bottles appeared to have some sort of liquid in it, but the blue label read, "Drink Me", while the red one had "Eat Me" written on it.

"Now that's just weird.", Sora said as we looked at the bottles. He picked up the one with the red label and showed it to us. "If it's a liquid, why in the world does it say 'eat me' on it?"

Goofy chuckled and Donald elbowed him to shut up.

"Maybe it's pills.", I suggested. The bottles were completely opaque. Sora shook the bottle and we heard a sloshing sound. Sora then looked at me, having refuted my guess. "I stand corrected."

"So which one should we take, Sora?", Yoris asked.

"The one that makes sense, of course.", Sora said with a smile as he replaced the red labeled bottle on the table. Just before he could grab the blue one, Gregorio grabbed his wrist.

"Hold on a second.", he said. "How do we know it isn't poisonous?"

"No need to worry, Gregorio.", Donald assured. "I can fix it up with my magic."

"Okay. So…who wants to try it first?"

Sora put his hands away, now unsure thanks to worries about poison. We all looked at each other, hoping one of us would do the deed.

Sighing, I decided to go for it. "Fine.", I said as I picked up the bottle.

"We didn't say anything.", Goofy pointed out.

"I know.", I replied as I removed the cork. I peered into the bottle at the liquid inside. Then I decided to take a sniff. After getting no assurances, I grumbled and sipped the liquid.

"How's it taste?" Goofy wanted to know.

"Hmm…tastes like…paopu?" Just then, I thought everything around me felt bigger as I heard Donald quack in surprise. "Waaait…vanilla?" I then heard Sora gasp as I felt my surroundings enlarge. "No, that can't be right. Hmm…noodle soup? Blue? Now how the heck do they all taste similar?" By this time, I suddenly noticed that the bottle was about my size. "Whoa!" I gasped as I dropped the bottle, which thankfully didn't break. I looked up to my companions, who were like monsters.

I had no time to wonder whether they might step on me or not as Yoris knelt on one knee and whispered, "Are you okay, Rael?"

From my perspective, it was about as loud as he was when talking normally. I did a thumbs-up, and said, "Yeah! Other than being smaller, I'm fine!"

"Let me try.", Sora said as he picked up the bottle near me and took a sip. In a few seconds, he was just as small as I was. "Now how're we gonna get into the door?"

"Well…", we turned to the doorknob, which was fast asleep. "We definitely can't use that door." Sora looked up to the others and signaled to them that the door couldn't be used.

"So then, how?", Donald asked.

Sora placed one hand thoughtfully under his chin as he looked at his surroundings. I followed suit and we stared at each visible piece of furniture in turn, looking for holes and cracks we could fit through, since the door clearly wouldn't open. Just then, I noticed a large opening in the bottom of the stove.

"What about there?", I suggested.

"No.", Sora replied. "It's probably just an opening in the stove, and even if it does lead somewhere, it's on a different wall from the wooden door."

"Oh, okay."

We continued to look around, focusing on the wall the door was connected. Just then, Sora noticed something and informed me. We turned to see an large opening in the wall behind one end of the green bed. We ran over to the edge of the bed and peered beyond the crack.

_It's a doorway, alright._, I thought as Sora signalled the others to move the bed. They complied, Donald replacing the bottle beforehand. They grabbed onto its edge and began to try to pull the bed away from the hole so as to make a crack large enough for Sora and me to fit through, but it wouldn't budge an inch.

"Why won't it budge?", Donald howled, his face turning red with frustration and effort.

"It's like it's part o' the wall.", Goofy commented with a smile, somewhat amused.

"This is no time to be amused, Goofy!", Gregorio hissed.

"Hmm… Everything else in this room can be like a drawing on the wall.", Sora wondered to himself as he glanced over at the table and chair as examples. "So then, if it can't be pulled away from the wall, you'd probably have to push it into the wall."

"Now that's just not logical.", I told him. "Then again, neither is shrinking, magic, slow falling, or the Heartless. I think it's worth a try."

"Guys!", Sora shouted with another stomp of his feet. Our four companions stopped and looked over at us. "Try pushing it **into** the wall!"

Donald narrowed his eyes at Sora. "Push it **into** the wall?" he snapped. "Are you crazy? Like that's actually going to work!"

As Donald argued with Sora, Goofy moved around the bed into a position from which he could shove the bed into the wall. As Gregorio and Yoris watched, he placed his gloved hands on each side and gave the bed a small push. The bed immediately flew into the wall, making a "2D" image of a green bed on its surface, painted as it would be seen from the side. Donald dropped onto his belly with a small thud as the bed moved. Goofy scratched the side of his head and laughed.

"Wow! Sora was right!", Yoris gasped.

Sora folded his arms over his chest and stared smugly at Donald, giving him an I-told-you-so look. Donald raised himself slightly, propping his head up with one arm, his other hand resting on the floor and his fingers drumming the flooring impatiently. Sora grinned, moving closer to Donald so he wouldn't have to yell the instructions.

"Now you guys can shrink down and we'll all get a move on, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah.", Donald grumbled as he got to his feet, took the blue labeled bottle and took his sip. He then passed it to Goofy, who passed it to Yoris, who passed it to Gregorio, who set it back on the table before they all shrunk down to size. Soon after, they hurried to the hole where Sora and I now stood. As soon as we were together, we crossed the tunnel.

Part V. A Biased Trial

As soon as we approached the exit, we heard the sound of birds chirping. The moment we exited the tunnel, the world exploded with blues and greens, a relief after being exposed to only shades of pink and violet. We had entered a large garden of sorts, with grass hedges that seemed to stretch toward the blue sky, which looked like it was painted by a young artist. A large white castle loomed over us in the distance.

We turned our attention to what was taking place in the middle of the garden. Standing directly in front of us were six soldiers lined up in formation, facing us as we entered. They were like man-sized playing cards with limbs and a head. Their eyes were shielded by their colored hoods, and in their hands they each held a weapon, which varied according to the color and suit of each card. For some reason, I didn't see any card from the diamonds or clubs suit. (5)

Two red guards stood in front of the soldiers, holding their red heart-tipped in a way of preventing entry. The guards raised their spears to allow the white rabbit through, who had only appeared a few moments earlier than us (amazingly). The two rows of card soldiers folded backwards, allowing the rabbit through to the front of the garden. As the soldiers opened up, We were able to see what exactly was going on.

There was a courtroom setup at the other end of the garden. But unlike most courtrooms, it was incomplete, as all it had was a jury box that stood off to one side, the judge's bench with a large yellow cloth bearing a large black and red heart emblem draped over the edge, and a witness stand placed in front of the Judge's bench rather than beside it. The stand didn't seem to have a chair, which wasn't very fair for the person who was in the stand at that moment.

She was a young girl, probably younger than Sora by a year or two, with long, thick blonde hair that was only held out of her face with a thin black headband with a small ribbon. She wore a light blue dress with puffed sleeves and a large poofy skirt with several layers of white petticoats and long white stockings with a pair of shiny black Mary Jane shoes. She had a white apron on that tied at the back in a neat, almost perfect white ribbon.

We saw her fidget, smoothing the hem of her dress and keeping it neat. The girl turned her head slightly as the white rabbit ran past her, opening her mouth slightly as though she has something to say to him. The white rabbit merely ran past her and up a spiral wooden staircase leading to the top of a large wooden tower that made the rabbit level with the Judge's bench. The rabbit paused, keeling over slightly as he caught his breath. After a moment, he lifted a trumpet to his lips and played a brief interlude. He dropped the trumpet quickly and took a deep breath.

"Court is now in session!", he yelled, trying in vain to sound commanding.

The blonde girl looked over at the rabbit, confused, blinking her blue eyes sadly.

"I'm on trial?", she asked, sounding horrified. "But why?"

The rabbit didn't even look down at the girl and only made his voice louder as he straightened himself and took another deep breath. "Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!" He then made a deep bow in the direction of the Judge's bench.

We looked over to see who the judge was, then wished we hadn't. At least Sora and I didn't.

This "Queen of Hearts", upon looking at the girl, and seemed to command authority and injustice all at the same time. She was a rather large woman, built something like a large mother grizzly. Her face was most certainly not pleasant to look at in **any** way. She wore a dress that reminded me of queens in medieval times, or at least the time of castles and knights. She had black hair slicked back in a bun, with several tufts of hair sticking out around her forehead. The queen had large, intimidating eyes glaring down at the girl before her as she tapped her red heart-shaped fan on the wooden counter of her Judge's bench. After a moment of tense silence, the Queen of Hearts narrowed her eyes at the young girl and leaned forward in her seat threateningly.

"This girl is the culprit.", she said, her voice calm with anger obvious in her voice. "There's no doubt about it."

Here the queen leaned back in her seat, fanning herself. The blonde girl looked about her upon hearing the queen's words, as if looking for someone who'd believe and defend her. Her mouth opened and shut as she contemplated shouting out.

"And the reason is…?", the queen continued, looking back down at the girl. She suddenly leaned forward and slammed her fists angrily on the podium, screaming her reasoning straight into the girl's face. "Because I say so, that's why!"

_What? Not even the most unfair of trials have this kind of reasoning!_, I thought infuriatingly. I thought of speaking my mind, but I thought better of it, partly because I was deathly scared of the queen.

The girl leaned over the bench of the witness stand toward the queen. "That is so unfair!", she yelled back, extending one hand in plea.

The queen leaned back into her seat and began to fan herself. The girl placed her hands stubbornly on her hips, her eyes still wandering about as she looked for someone who might defend her. After another brief moment, the queen stomped the end of her fan gently on the wooden podium twice so as to make a thudding noise.

"Well, have you anything to say in your defense?", she asked with a gesture of her fan toward the girl, her voice lowered.

The girl looked straight into the queen's face without flinching. "Of course!", she said, folding her arms indignantly over her chest. "I've done **absolutely** nothing wrong." The white rabbit looked at the defendant, then back at the queen, his expression growing more anxious as the girl continued to speak. The queen's gaze only hardened as she glared down at the girl, tapping her fan impatiently into her other hand. "You may be queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so…so mean."

"**Silence!**", the queen screamed so loudly that a gust of hot air blew into the girl's face, blowing her hair behind her as she flinched in terror. "You dare defy me!" The queen slammed her fists angrily on the wooden podium.

Having watched the entire scene so far in complete and utter silence, Sora turned slightly toward his companions without tearing his eyes away from the courtroom.

"Hey, guys, we should help her out.", Sora said.

Donald looked up at Sora, then at Goofy. "Yeah, but the..."

"We're outsiders.", Goofy said, interrupting Donald. "So wouldn't that be muddling?"

"'Meddling'!", Donald corrected.

"Oh, yeah!", Goofy chuckled to himself. "And that's against the rules."

Sora's face took a sad expression as he watched the girl stand before the terrifying queen, fidgeting slightly as the queen continued to scream. He tilted his head slightly to one side as he watched, letting out a remorseful sigh.

"As much as I hate such ridiculous injustice, I'm guessing that unless Heartless are involved, we can't intervene.", Yoris said.

"Whatever gave you that idea?", Donald asked me in an angry tone.

"You know, I haven't a clue."

The queen adjusted herself in her seat as she decided on her verdict, rising slightly and lifting her fan high in the air in order to get everyone's attention. "The court finds the defendant…" She narrowed her eyes at the girl before leaning forward again and pointing her fan straight at the girl's face. "…**guilty **as charged!"

The girl gasped, putting one hand over her mouth in shock, and took a single step backwards, her head reeled in horror.

The queen's expression grew only more malevolent as she settled back in her chair, tapping the end of her fan into her open palm. "For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart…"

"We have to help!", Yoris gasped. "The Heartless are definitely involved!"

"We can't intervene.", Donald said sternly.

"And we'll allow the Heartless to get away with this?"

Before Donald could reply, the Queen of Hearts rose to her feet, her black and red dress swaying as the woman shifted her weight over the edge of her podium. She pointed one massive finger in the young girl's direction accusingly.

"**Off with her head!**", she shrieked.

"Now this is beyond injustice!", Gregorio said as the card soldiers shifted their positions so that they faced the queen. They adjusted the spears and axes that they each held in their grip and nodded in unison, obedient to their Queen of Hearts.

The girl practically jumped onto the wooden bench of the witness stand in protest. "No, no!" she pleaded. "Oh, please!"

"I can't stand for this!", Sora said as he charged headlong into the courtroom, pushing aside the card soldiers. Donald slapped his forehead, unable to believe what Sora had just done. Gregorio, Yoris, and I widened our eyes from such foolhardy courage. "Hold it right there!"

The cards that he hadn't pushed aside moved to reveal Sora as he approached the bench. He glared up at the queen, trembling as the court's attention turned on him. Sora clenched his fists at his sides as he slowed to a stop not far behind the witness stand. The girl spun around on her heel to face Sora, smoothing her apron over her dress. The queen returned Sora's glare as he approached, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Who are you?", she demanded. "How dare you interfere with my court?"

Sora swallowed hard as I palmed my face. _What. An. Idiot._, I thought as the rest of us accompanied him.

"Excuse me.", Sora said apologetically as he swallowed up hia fear and sucked up some courage. "But we know who the real culprit is!"

Goofy nodded in agreement. "Uh-huh. It's the Heartle—" He stopped himself and looked over at Sora and Donald apologetically.

Donald seethed silently in Goofy's direction. Sora looked over at Goofy briefly, slightly confused, and then back at the queen. "A-Anyway, she's not the one you're looking for.", he continued, pointing at the blonde girl on the stand.

The queen leaned back into her seat, tapping her heart-shaped fan against her wooden armrest, leaning on one arm. She rolled her eyes before glaring back down at Sora.

"That's nonsense.", she snapped grumpily. "Have you any proof?"

Sora withdrew his hand slightly, faltering. Sora's gaze met with the girl's, who was looking hopeful. He clenched his teeth as he looked at her apologetically and lowered his eyes. Her face fell almost instantly.

"Idiot.", I told him. "This is a trial. Did you really think this through?"

"As a matter of fact, we do.", Gregorio stepped up as he took something from my bag and took out something that, upon pressing a button, showed a hologram. It showed the girl running away from the Heartless, who turned the natives she bypassed into their own brethren. "As you can see here, these black creatures are the real culprit." The girl widened her eyes in surprise, having actually experiences what transpired in the hologram. The hologram then went away "So?"

The queen took this in for a while, then said, "…Insufficient evidence!" Gregorio growled in anger as he returned the device in my bag.

The queen then folded her arms over her chest smugly and gestured to one of the soldiers. The Ace of Spades grabbed the girl by the arm and threw her into a golden birdcage next to the Judge's bench. He slammed the barred door in her face and locked it. The girl grabbed onto the bars, looking out from between them desperately. Sora clenched his fists as he could nothing more than watch.

"However… I'll allow you a chance to bring me evidence of Alice's innocence! Fail, and it's off with all of your heads!", her voice began to increase in volume and in rage. "Until you conclude your investigations, the court is adjourned!"

With that, the queen slapped the end of her fan against the wooden podium, dismissing the court. The card soldiers relaxed, moving out and heading to different positions around the garden. Even the white rabbit relaxed somewhat, slumping out of his posture and pulling out a small handkerchief to wipe away sweat formed across his furry forehead. The queen settled back into her seat and relaxed.

Donald folded his arms over his chest and tapped one webbed foot as he looked at Sora. He cleared his throat, making Sora turn around to face him.

Sora sighed, exasperated. "Well I just had to do something, right?"

He then looked over at the cage in which the girl had been thrown into and approached it slowly, wary of the Ace of Spades that stood with a large axe in his hand right next to her prison. I followed Sora in case the card attacked. Gregorio followed too.

The girl had her eyes lowered to the ground, her hands still clasped around the bars of her caged prison. Sora walked over and cleared his throat slightly to catch her attention. Her eyes turned upward.

"Who are you?", she asked almost timidly.

Sora gave her his best smile and we all introduced ourselves. Well, Donald didn't, but Goofy did it for him.

"My name is Alice.", the girl said with a slight curtsey and a smile. "Pleased to meet you, though I do wish it were under better circumstances." She lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry you got mixed up in this nonsense."

"Why are you on trial in the first place?", Gregorio wanted to know.

Alice's expression hardened as she looked back at Sora. "I should like to know the very same thing! Apparently, I was guilty from the moment I took the stand!"

"That's crazy!", Sora replied sympathetically. Alice sighed sadly, clutching the gold yellow bars of her prison. Sora then took a deep breath and decided to change the subject. "So, where are you from?"

Donald rolled his eyes as the words came out of Sora's mouth and groaned. Sora glanced back at Donald and shrugged. The duck sighed and nodded. Alice, on the other hand, looked thoughtful for a moment before she answered.

"Hmm, curious.", she murmured. "I can't quite remember. You see, I found this mysterious rabbit hole. When I tried to peek inside, I tumbled head over heels… And I found myself here." Sora nodded. The very same thing had happened to us. Alice sighed. "Oh, if only I hadn't peeked into that rabbit hole. I guess I'm a bit too curious for my own good."

Sora's face brightened slightly the realization came to him. "So you're from another world!"

Goofy mulled over the idea briefly in his head and chuckled faintly. "That's funny. Maybe you don't need a ship, then."

Donald shrugged, confused and angry all at once. "I don't get it."

"What do you mean 'another world'?", Alice asked, tilting her head curiously to one side and tucking some of her blonde hair behind one ear.

That's when the Ace of Spades stomped one foot on the ground, making everyone turn to look at him. He glared at Sora, in particular.

"Enough!", he yelled forcefully. "The defendant will be silent!"

"Hey!", Gregorio countered as I saw him take out something from his pocket. "We're interrogating her!"

"Silence!" The card swung his axe down on Gregorio, who blocked with his javelin and pushed away the attack. As he did that, I saw him shoot something from the item he got, and it pricked Alice like a mosquito.

Gregorio then turned around in a huff as the rest of us backed away. With a firm serves-you-right nod, the guard looked away. Donald and Goofy turned around and began to walk away. Yoris did the same. I merely took a few steps away before turning around again. Sora hesitated, leaning in Alice's direction as he walked away, still facing her.

"Don't worry, Alice.", he told her reassuringly. "We'll prove to her that you're innocent!"

Alice leaned forward, her face just about squeezed in between two of the bars.

"Listen!", she called after him. Sora stopped in his tracks, straining his ears to hear her. I listened from my position. "I asked this Cheshire Cat how to get home." Sora and I nodded intently. "And he told me to ask the queen." We nodded again. "So I came here to see her, and I was arrested." Alice's voice began to get shrill, and her words began to tumble over each other as she spoke. "She simply refuses to listen to me. It's so unfair… I haven't done anything wrong. What shall I do? I should like to keep my head. Why, if my head and body become separated, nothing I eat will reach my stomach!"

_Seriously? That'd be the least of your worries!_, I wondered to myself as we took two steps back. Alice then shook her head as she did her best to focus on what it was she needed to say.

"That Cheshire Cat may be able to help you.", she said quickly, glancing in her guard's direction. "You may be able to find him in the Lotus Forest. That way!"

She pointed off into the distance directly behind us, biting down on her lip nervously. We looked in the direction she pointed to, and then turned to Alice and nodded.

"You got it.", he said, smiling. "Thanks!"

The guard slammed his foot down on the ground again and looked in our direction, tightening his hold on his axe, his expression hardening in outrage. "No talking to the defendant!", he yelled.

"No need to worry, sir!", I found myself yelling. "Our interrogation is finished!"

Part VI. The Cheshire Cat

"Why can't we just tell 'em that it was those Heartless guys?", Sora asked.

The six of us had entered the alleged Lotus Forest. To us, it really was like a large forest, filled with dense foliage stretching up to the sky. Everything was washed in neutral colors of browns and earthy greens. Giant lotuses loomed over our heads, blocking out the sun and giving the forest its name. However, the more we looked around, the more we realized what exactly this 'forest' was. This was merely akin to one small area of an actual forest or meadow or garden patch, we were merely small.

Sora led the way, walking slowly through the unknown territory. Goofy and I walked directly behind him, Gregorio and Yoris followed closely, while Donald trailed a few steps behind the entire party. As Sora peered over his shoulder toward Donald as he waited for an answer, the duck's face twisted slightly in annoyance. After a moment, he took a long, deep breath, and then spoke.

"Because," Donald explained. "Every world is defined by its particular boundaries, within which some understanding of reality emerges as truth. Two truths cannot coexist, and so from the introduction of foreign bodies is conflict and chaos spawned. That's why we limit our involvement in local affairs."

The rest of us blinked in confusion. "Say that again?", I asked.

"Indeed.", boomed a tired sounding voice. "Speak again. You speak the truth? I pose that the untruth of this truth upon truths holds truer."

We all stopped in our tracks as we looked around. There wasn't a single soul to be found anywhere; just us. We were silent for a moment, until Sora stepped forth, clenching his fists and taking a deep breath. He managed to cry out, "Who are you?"

"Who, indeed.", the voice said again, its position shifting from one area of the forest to the next.

We spun about in place in an attempt to find out who spoke. As we did so, I thought I saw something fuchsia-colored move out of the corner of my eye. I quickly turned, only to find nothing. Laughter began to echo about the area, followed by the reciting of a song. It came softly at first, but was slowly getting louder.

_'Twas a brillig, and the slithy toves_

_Did gyre and gimble in the wabe_

_All a mimsy were the borrow-groves_

_And the momeraths out grabe…_

The laughter continued when it finished. Just then, a face popped out of the darkness at Sora, and then vanished just as quickly. Sora took a step backwards in surprise.

"What was that?", he asked.

"What was what?", Donald asked, turning around to look in Sora's direction.

Sora shook his head and rubbed his eyes. "I thought I saw something..."

That's when it happened again. The unknown face popped out like a jack-in-the-box and then retracted and disappeared, only to do it again from somewhere else. The third time, everyone saw it. Donald jumped back with a loud quack of surprise and Goofy dropped onto his bottom in shock. Yoris and Gregorio merely jumped up and I just raised my eyebrows.

The face vanished one final time and reappeared, hovering slightly over a nearby tree stump. At first, it was just a large, white, crescent shaped grin, which eventually grew into a whole figure. It was a large, chubby, fuchsia cat with white stripes running down his body, encircling even his arms and belly. He stared down at the six of us through wide, mischievous yellow eyes, with his two paws supporting the underside of his jaw as he lay on his side. He chuckled as he watched our reaction to his appearance, his bushy tail wagging in the air.

Sora stepped forward, pushing away his surprise. "You must be the Cheshire Cat."

The Cheshire Cat turned his eyes onto Sora, his large grin growing, confirming Sora's suspicions, and then looked at Donald. "You speak the truth?", he asked curiously. His grin grew even wider. "The Cheshire Cat knows all truths, and finds as yet no contradiction nor chaos."

Goofy rose back to his feet and joined the five of us in gaping. He pointed amusedly at the Cheshire Cat and chuckled, turning to Donald and saying cheerily, "It's a cat!"

The cat propped himself up into a human-like sitting position. "Poor Alice.", he said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing!"

"Hey!", Sora cried out, forcing the Cheshire Cat to turn his attention back on him. "If you know who the culprit is, tell us!"

The cat chuckled, rising onto his hind legs. He put both paws on either side of his head and removed his head from his shoulders. Donald and Gregorio's face went pale and Sora and Yoris's eyes grew as wide as saucers. For some reason, I didn't react to this. The Cheshire Cat proceeded to place his head on the ground before him and stepped on top of it. The cat's yellow eyes then turned to Sora, and he smiled.

"Can you stand on your head?", he asked, a small laugh escaping from him.

_What an incerdibly lame pun._, I thought to myself.

"Not like that.", Sora replied.

"Tell us!", Donald impatiently interrupted.

"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers.", the cat said, stepping off his head and placing it back on his shoulders. And then, turning to the trio and wagging one finger in the air, "But doesn't always tell. The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness." Then, his figure began to fade away.

"Wait!", Sora cried. "That's all you're gonna tell us?"

The white moon shaped smile was the last thing of the Cheshire Cat to vanish.

"So much for asking the Cheshire Cat for help to save Alice.", Gregorio grumbled.

As we were about to press further onward into the Lotus Forest, the cat's voice rang out into the stillness, the source of it still shifting positions as he spoke.

"They've already left the forest," he was saying. "I won't tell which exit. And you better watch out. Something's coming."

All of a sudden, the same sound that heralded the Heartless resounded in the area. A second later, Shadows and Soldiers appeared. Alongside them were small Heartless with smooth, conical, red bodies with a Heartless emblem emblazoned on their chests. The top of their bodies flared outward and formed a jagged "collar" below the Heartless's spherical, pitch black head. It also wore a conical, yellow hat that had a jagged brim and a thin, curled tip. Its seemingly useless feet sported three small, thin toes.

"Just great!", Yoris complained as everyone got their weapons. Donald wielded a staff, most likely for casting magic. Goffy took out a medium-sized shield for protection. Without a word, we attacked.

Sora swung his Keyblade around, destroying Shadows in two hits, and pummeling Soldiers in three. Despite his 'weapon', Goofy was pounding the Heartless quite well. I shot at the Red Nocturnes, which shot fire right at us. I saw Yoris shoot fireballs at them, but they didn't seem to do anything.

"Don't shoot fire at those Heartless!", Donald warned as he cast Blizzard on the little red Heartless, taking them down in one hit whereas I needed three at most while Gregorio needed two while he spun his javelin around.

"Okay!", Yoris said as he then aimed for the other Heartless, careful not to attack the Red Nocturnes. Eventually, we cleared the area of Heartless. "Thanks for the advice, Donald."

"Well, knowing the elements is basic knowledge for a wizard like me."

Just then, the Diary I stored in my pocket 'beeped'. I took it out, opened it, and read an entry that seemed to be about the red Heartless we encountered.

"Red Nocturne.", it said. "Spellcasting Heartless. While hovering about, they attack by casting Fire. Having low health, they keep their distance from their opponents, making them difficult to attack. They absorb fire attacks."

"Cool.", Goofy said. "A bit like Jiminny's Journal."

Suddenly, a small pink box fell from overhead, bouncing off Donald's head and straight into my hands. I managed to catch the box clumsily with the Diary, and then stared at the box, one eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"What's this?", I asked as I put the box on one hand and put away my Diary.

"Within the box there lives perhaps the truth you seek.", the Cheshire Cat explained, who then chuckled slightly. "Or perhaps there lives not?"

Donald rubbed the top of his head grumpily, muttering several incomprehensible words under his breath as he glared upward. Goofy walked over to me and looked first at the box, and then back at me.

"Should we trust him?", he asked.

"To trust, or not to trust?", the Cheshire Cat interjected, reappearing atop the tree stump. "I trust you'll decide!" And with that, the cat vanished again.

"Doesn't look very trustworthy to me.", Donald growled.

"Well, should we open it?", I asked the others.

All eyes turned onto the box I held. It seemed too small to have anything live in it. I saw that it was a simple pink box, not much taller than the hat Goofy wore. I shook it, hoping something would rattle. Nothing happened.

"Open it.", said Goofy.

I turned the box right side up and began to slowly peel the lid open. The lid had barely been opened before a powerful force flew out of the tiny box and into my face, forcing me to hold the box farther away. Everyone else released loud cries of alarm as whatever was inside the box popped out. Nothing.

"What?", I gasped.

"The truth you seek lies in boxes similar to the one you just held.", the Cheshire Cat said from all around. "There are four of them in all. Three are a cinch to find. The fourth is tricky. Big reward if you find them all."

"Just great.", Gregorio complained, then turned to Sora. "Let's go look."

Part VII. The Search for Alice

It took us longer than we thought, but we managed to collect four pink boxes, each of them with these kinds of evidence; footprints on a preserved stone sample, a device emitting a certain stench, a Shadow's antenna (which we didn't think was possible to collect), and claw marks on a leaf.

"What was that you did on Alice, Gregorio?", I wanted to know. "And how did you get those stuff out from my bag?"

We were currently back at the room with the bottles. We managed to find a passageway somewhere in the Lotus Forest. We don't know how we got there, but we were now at some high place.

"Those gadgets were from the Destiny.", Gregorio answered. "As we showed you the Gummi Ship, I…took some of the gadgets on that shelf and put them in your bag. About the one I put on Alice, it's a tracking device."

"Why'd you put one?", I asked.

"You know what? I don't really know."

Suddenly, the Cheshire Cat appeared on the faucet we ended up on seconds ago. (6)

"Well, look what you've found. Nice going.", he commended.

"Now we can save Alice.", Sora said.

"Don't be so sure. She may be innocent, but what about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I won't tell, but I'll give one of you guys something."

On the Cheshire Cat's tail, four marble-sized spheres, one cog-shaped item, and a pair of bracers appeared. He then swished his tail and I managed to catch them in my hands.

"I can see you're a bit less than capable in close combat than the rest.", he said to me. "Use them well." The Cheshire Cat then disappeared.

"What is that?", Sora asked.

"This cog is one of the items we were tasked to search.", I said.

"I meant the bracers and the marbles."

"I haven't a clue." I put on the bracers and, out of guessing, inserted the marbles into four of the 6 slots found on each of the bracers. "But I think they'll be useful."

"Let's head back to the Queen with the evidence.", Goofy said.

"Right."

We all jumped down and the second we did, Heartless appeared. We dispatched them quickly, but saw one Soldier head out of the area. They never did this sort of thing, usually sticking around in one area. Immediately, we followed, weapons at the ready from our skirmish seconds ago. We then realized the Soldier was headed for the Courtroom, possibly headed for Alice, the cards, and…

"The Queen of Hearts!", Sora gasped.

We reached the entryway to the queen's court, and by that time, Sora had almost caught up to the Heartless. Sora adjusted his grip on the Keyblade as he closed the gap between him and the Heartless, passing under the large, grass hedge archway as we entered the courtroom. The Heartless leapt onto the witness stand, spinning slightly to face the Queen of Hearts.

"What in the world is that?", the queen shrieked. "**Mannerless**!"

She scrambled to escape from her Judge's bench, without success. Her scream resonated throughout the courtroom.

"We got the evidence, Your Majesty!", Gregorio said as he held up a box with the four items. "And that probably counts, too!" He pointed at the Soldier, which then leapt up to strike at the queen, who recoiled with rage. Sora jumped onto the witness stand, rebounding off of it to the Judge's bench. Keyblade in both hands, Sora took one large, mid-air swing, chopping down the Heartless before it was even able to lay one shadowy claw on the queen. The Heartless vanished in that one hit, dispersing inches away from the queen's face.

Sora planted both feet on the end of the Judge's bench and then turned to look at the queen, pointing the Keyblade at her. "There ya go!", Sora said forcefully. "Still think Alice's the one?"

He then turned around and looked down from the Judge's bench. We stood there, looking up at Sora proudly. Gregorio still had the other evidence in hand. Just then, I saw the queen grind her teeth angrily, clenching her hands into fists. She pounded her fists on the Judge's bench angrily.

"Silence!", she shrieked. "**I'm** the law here! Article 29: Anyone who defies the queen is guilty!"

Donald slammed one foot on the ground, equally enraged as the queen. "That's crazy!"

"Cards!", the queen screamed as she turned to her troops, pointing angrily at the six of us, her eyes burning with unreasonable rage. She was practically spitting as she screamed. "Seize them at once!"

Suddenly, the exit and the spiral staircase disappeared. A small yellow tower with a red roof and two wheels then appeared in the middle of the field. The Ten of Spades ran to it and turned its wheel. A red curtain fell over the cage, and it shot up on a rail to the top of a tower standing next to the Judge's bench. The queen looked up at the cage with a proud nod, and then turned back to ordering the other cards.

"If they touch the tower, you lose your heads!", she shrieked, pointing her fan at them.

The card soldiers immediately leapt forward to surround us, but Yoris fired his cannon and they were quickly dispersed.

"Guess there's no need for these anymore.", Gregorio said as he stowed the collected evidence in my bag.

"The tower!", Yoris said as he continued attacking the cards. Sora jumped down froom the Judge's bench and joined Goofy and Gregorio in turning the wheels, which brought the cage down slowly. However, it wasn't easy as the cards continued to attack with their axes and spears. Even if we managed to bring them down, they would only get up once more in a few seconds. Just then, I saw a fireball from Donald hit the queen. When she went down, so did the cards. With the cards dispatched, we all turned the wheels until it reached the bottom of the rail.

Once it came down with a crash, everybody, including the cards and the queen, who managed to get up after a couple of seconds, stopped. All the cards looked at the cage as though frozen. Even the queen leaned over the edge of the Judge's bench, straining to see. The curtain then drew itself back to reveal…nothing. We were shocked from this revelation, and the cards turned to their queen, whose face started to turn beet red.

"She must've gotten kidnapped while we were fighting.", Donald guessed.

"You fools!", the queen shrieked, banging her fists on the bench and shaking her fan angrily at the card soldiers. "Find the one who's behind this! I don't care how!"

The cards saluted the queen before running about the courtroom in circles. After a moment of mass panic, the cards exited the courtroom as the 'exit' and the staircase reappeared and the tower disappear. The queen then turned to look at us.

"This includes **you six** as well!", she hissed, waving her fan angrily. "Quit dawdling! Find Alice, or it's off with **all of your heads**!"

We immediately jumped in attention and ran straight for the Lotus Forest.

KHKHKHKHKH

"That queen's totally lost it.", Gregorio muttered as we walked. Sora pushed aside a tuft of tall grass and stepped over it, then held it back for the rest of us as we followed.

As Sora dropped the grass, we heard a familiar voice. It came softly, then turned into soft, echoing chuckles. Suddenly, sets of paw prints appeared on the ground like something invisible was walking our way. The paw prints then turned and headed to a nearby tree.

"The Cheshire Cat.", I guessed.

As if on cue, the Cheshire Cat appeared in the branches of the tree, his moon shaped smile glowing from out of the forest's darkness. He hung upside down from one of the branches with his hind legs crossed like he were sitting cross legged on the floor.

"Loooose something?", he asked casually.

"Yeah," Goofy said with a slight chuckle, stepping forward. "Have you seen Alice?"

The Cheshire Cat blinked slowly, his smile stretching. "Alice, no.", he said. "Shadow, yes!"

"Where did they go?"

The cat shrugged, curling upward to seat himself on the tree branch. "This way? That way? Does it matter? Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows!" His grin grew. "And besides: **all** ways here are the queen's ways." The cat pulled at the fur on his head and imitated the Queen of Hearts' tightly bound bun on the top of her head.

"Just great.", Sora grumbled.

"Step deeper into the forest to the deserted garden. You might find shadows in the upside down room!", the cat continued. With that, he vanished once again.

"'The upside down room'?", Sora echoed, turning to look at us. We all shrugged in response.

"Let's just keep going.", Donald suggested.

Just before we could do so however, Heartless appeared again. This time, there was a very big one with them.

Nearly spherical in shape, this one had massive arms and hands, short legs, huge feet, and tiny heads. It was clothed in purple sleeveless bodysuits edged in gold trim, which laced up the front of the body suit. Along with black curl-toe shoes and black silver-trimmed pants, it also had manacles in purple and silver on each wrist; three links of chain dangled from each of them. It was topped off by a high silver collar that covered its lower face, and a tiny silver wizard hat that ended in a curl.

As usual, we attacked. However, the large one seemed to be very resistant to our attacks. However, an attack from behind by Sora seemed to affect it greatly. Magic from Donald, and an attack from Yoris did wonders as well. Once the Heartless was dealt with, the Diary beeped again, and I took it out to read its entry.

"Large Body. Big round Heartless. They seem tame and laid-back, but go berserk when they are angered. With their brute strength, they can inflict great damage, so be on your guard."

"Didn't say anything about being immune to frontal attacks.", I grumbled as I put away the Diary and we continued onward, deeper into the forest, mostly in silence.

"Hey, look there!", Goofy said.

We looked up as he pointed to an open passage just ahead. It was where the foliage grew so thickly together that it formed a tunnel. All the light was blocked out so that beyond the opening, nothing could be seen but the blackness. Where it led, none of us knew. Regardless, we entered it. We walked along slowly in silence, Sora trailing his fingers on the "walls" as he led the way. The darkness seemed endless until Sora bumped chest first into some sort of grass hedge wall. Sora then dug his fingers into the hedge. Gripping the hedge in his hands, he tore it apart to make a passageway. That's when light exploded into our faces, illuminating the new place unexpectedly.

"What in the…", Gregorio said.

Spread out before us was the layout of an outdoor tea party. There was a long table with a bright pink table cloth standing in the middle, in front of a large white and pink house with a roof of hay. Chairs of all kinds were lined up along the sides of the table. The table was filled from end to end with teacups, saucers, teapots, spoons, and cups of sugar. The tea party seemed to have been abandoned halfway, as some of the cups still had tea in them.

Hung on one of the large hedges surrounding the area at one end of the table was a peculiar image of two unusual characters; a man in a brightly colored suit with a large head and white hair wearing a green hat with a price tag reading "10/6". Next to him was a brown hare in an equally bright suit with a crazy tuft of fur on his head. Both seemed to be looking out from inside the picture with mournful, anxious expressions and tears streaming from their eyes, staring at the tea party spread.

"There's somethin' really creepy about this place.", Sora muttered as he turned away from the picture.

"You're telling me.", I said as I investigated the table.

"Whaddaya mean?", Goofy wanted to know, wandering to the table and picking up a teacup. He held it with both hands and examined the cup from all sides, the remaining tea spilling out as he spun the cup upside down.

Sora shrugged, making his way to the house. "I dunno, but there's something about this place."

"Well, they left all this good tea.", Yoris remarked as he helped himself with some tea. "Whoever was here left in the middle of a good tea party!" He tut-tutted to himself as he set the teapot he used back down and got ready to take a sip from his cup, seating himself in one of the empty chairs.

"Hold it, Yoris!", Gregorio said as he stopped him, snatching the teacup and returning it onto the table. "We don't know what's in there!"

"Seriously, guys.", Sora said, turning slightly so he could see us. "There's something…weird going on in here."

Donald looked first at Sora and then at the picture. He had overlooked it before, and now as he took a good long look at it, he shuddered. "Sora's right.", he said, trying to keep calm. "We should just keep going."

Immediately, Yoris got up and we all followed Sora and Donald toward the house. Just before leaving, for some reason, I was compelled to secretly take out two paopus from my bag and leave them on the table. As I then passed through the doorway, I saw Sora whisper "Sorry" before I joined him in leaving the room.

Part VIII. Yi and The Trickmaster

We were expecting to step through the doorway of a house, but the second we passed through it, we were back where we had started; the strangely decorated bizarre room. Pink walls, items that could be pushed into the walls, and the white table with two bottles on top.

_'Twas a brillig, and the slithy toves_

_Did gyre and gimble in the wabe_

_All a mimsy were the borrow-groves_

_And the momeraths out grabe…_

The voice of the Cheshire Cat seemed to come from the tabletop. As we turned there, the cat's body appeared, lying casually on his side, his head propped up with one paw as he looked down at us. He laughed lightly, scratching a spot on his belly.

"Fourth verse?", he offered the six of us.

"No thanks.", Donald grumbled.

"You vanished on us last time.", Sora said firmly. "Where's this 'upside down room'?"

The Cheshire Cat smiled in an amused manner. "Here." His smile grew as he stood on his hind legs. "I shall show what shadows lurk in the heart of the world."

"Where?"

The cat produced a flame from mid-air and raised it over his head as it began to grow. "Patience, patience.", he forewarned. "Want to find the shadows? Turn on the light!"

Suddenly, one of two small lamps on the ceiling turned on, and then the other. The cat smiled as his flame disappeared and he lay down on his side. "Have you heard? Where there is the brightest of flames, there is the darkest of shadows…" He tilted his head to one side. "You'll have a better view from higher up." He patted the surface of the table.

Sora looked over at us. "Should we…?"

"We don't really have a choice, do we?", Donald replied, exasperated. "Let's just go."

Hesitating slightly, we moved to the table and clambered onto the chair next to it, Goofy and Gregorio giving us boosts to reach the top. As soon as all six of us managed to reach the top, we turned to Cheshire Cat, who was standing on his head again and smiling as he replaced his head on his shoulders. He then lay back down, stretching slightly.

"The shadows should be here soon.", the cat said somewhat smugly.

Suddenly, the air began to waver. The atmosphere suddenly felt thick and heavy. An unseen force blew toward the room and began to build. Everything seemed to dim slightly, as if a great shadow was cast over the room. The room seemed to shake as the force began to build on itself. We gazed about warily, hearts thumping loudly in our chests. I just had a bad feeling somewhing was going to happen.

"Are your hearts prepared for the worst?", the Cheshire Cat asked us. "If not, too bad!"

That was when whatever had been building up took form. A large, monster like creature had taken form and began to loom above us. It looked like it had been pieced together from several children's toys; its main body and torso was a proper chest piece, as though it were part of a set of armor, but the rest of it was almost random.

It had two legs resembling scissor jacks. Each "thigh" was red, protruding from the pelvis in opposite directions on both sides. As it hit the "knee", the metal turned black and folded back until it reached the other side, coming together to form the feet, which looked like large black axes. Its arms seemed to be made of long, twisted strips of paper that made a zigzagged appearance. At the end of each strip was a small black paper hand, each holding a large club set on fire, which the creature juggled in the air. Its head consisted of many smaller heads, each sharing the same confused expression. The smaller heads alternated in color; one would be red while the next would be black.

The monster looked down from its high place above the tabletop and straight at the six of us. The Cheshire Cat rolled onto his back, his tail wagging in the air, his smile growing across his face. "Meet the Trickmaster!"

Sora looked back at the Cheshire Cat, and pointed one finger accusingly at him. "You!", he shouted angrily. "You lied to us!"

Donald looked over at the cat as well, his face red and his hands turned to fists. Goofy was too busy cowering in horror from the Trickmaster. Gregorio and Yoris were standing by for battle. I was facing the cat, who looked back at Sora and shook his head sadly in a disappointed manner.

"I **lie**, you say?", the Cheshire Cat echoed, taking offense. "Nay, I need not. The Cheshire Cat takes heart in aiding those in need."

Suddenly, a man landed on the table to join the battle, but on whose side, we didn't know. He wore a green Samurai-like uniform, and wielded a halberd.

"I am Yi. And I've been sent to eliminate you.", he said.

"What?", Sora and I gasped as we prepared our weapons. The Trickmaster just stood there, doing nothing…yet.

"The Keyblade and the Gun of Light are dangerous weapons that threaten our cause. Say goodbye."

Yi then jumped off the table and onto the Trickmaster's head. He then seated himself on as the Heartless decided to attack.

"I lead the Heartless in Wonderland. And you must go down."

The Trickmaster then lunged forward, swinging his fiery clubs at us, missing by only a hair. Our companions threw themselves down onto the table top to dodge, and then crawled toward the edge of the table and dropped back down to the floor. As soon as they hit the floor, they pulled out their weapons.

"Let's go, Goofy!", Donald urged, gripping his staff between both hands.

"We're with you all the way!", Gregorio said as the four charged forward, Goofy holding his shield tight in his hands as he barreled into the Trickmaster's limbs.

Donald jumped back and shot a fireball from his staff, which flew to the monster's torso. As the Trickmaster's attention shifted to them, Sora and I rose to our feet and we looked at the Cheshire Cat, who merely smiled as usual. Frustrated, Sora willed the Keyblade forth and ran to the edge of the table top. I summoned my DirLuxGun and shield as Sora leapt at the Heartless, Keyblade flashing, swinging his weapon angrily and getting in a decent hit to the lower part of its torso. Yi wobbled on the head, trying to stay on top.

"Ya got 'im!", Goofy cheered happily, leaping into the air. "Great job, Sora!"

Upon hearing Goofy's cheers, Sora smiled as he landed on the floor and spun around to see the effect of the blow. As I looked, wary to try to land a hit on Yi, The Trickmaster examined itself briefly before shaking off the hit and resuming its fight.

"Wh-What happened?", Sora yelled as he was reunited with our compannions.

Donald switched the staff into his right hand as they moved away from the Trickmaster, their eyes glued to its many faces. "It didn't work!" he yelled, alarmed.

"Of course it didn't.", Yi said atop its head as he aimd the back of his halberd to them. "The Trickmaster is **very** resilient."

He then pulled a trigger and shots came out of the halberd. I aimed at Yi and shot at him. He was hit and he fell off the Trickmaster. As I saw Sora and company deal with him, avoiding the Trickmaster's attacks all the while, I turned back to the Cheshire Cat, who seemed to smile at the panic we were thrown into. I turned back to see the Trickmaster swing flaming limbs in their direction. With a yell, Sora dropped onto his belly in an attempted dodge, flattening himself to the floor as the flames billowed with a roar overhead.

As for Yi, he leaped high and, in midair, cast a fireball right at Goofy, sending him flying. A he landed on the floor, Gregorio struck with his javelin, only to be parried by him. As they traded blows, Donald ran about, trying to find an opening. Meanwhile, Yoris was running fro the Trickmaster, who kept trying to attack him.

The Cheshire Cat chuckled amusedly, turning away briefly to examine his fingernails. "It seems you're in dire need of assistance.", he said as he glanced at each of us. "Rather a miracle you've made it this far."

With that, the Cheshire Cat gave a small nod of his head in Sora's direction as Sora rose to his knees. A small gust of icy cold wind billowed toward Sora and struck the Keyblade with just enough force to push him slightly to the side. Sora looked first at the cat, then down at the Keyblade, which now emitted a pale blue aura. The metal of the blade suddenly flashed icy cold in his grip.

"It is but a pittance.", the Cheshire Cat went on. "But I shall grant to you what strength you lack."

Sora eyed the cat suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"EEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Donald leapt frantically in the air, smoke billowing behind him as his tail feathers caught fire from Yi's magic. The duck then proceeded to run around in circles in terrified panic, screaming incoherently. Goofy pointed at Donald's tail and began to make various terrified and worried noises. Sora rose to his feet, spinning around to look at Donald, his fingers tightening around the handle of the Keyblade.

"**Donald!**"

The Keyblade flashed blue before a powerful icy cold force blew out from the tip. Sora yelled in shock as some kind of blizzard billowed out of the Keyblade and shot in a straight line in Donald's direction. Donald breathed in relief as the magical blizzard extinguished the flames on his tail feathers. While Yoris continued to run from the Trickmaster and Gregorio continued trading blows with Yi, the duck turned around to Sora, who seemed frozen to the spot.

"Sora!", Donald gasped. "Was that you just now?"

"You're the one they call 'the Bearer of the Key'.", the Cheshire Cat said calmly, lying down on his back and putting his hands behind his head. "It'd be a true pity if you didn't know how to use magic, wouldn't it?"

Sora looked at the Cheshire Cat, his eyes wide. "M-Magic?" he echoed.

"The wielder of the Gun of Light now has that ability too, thanks to what I have given him.", the cat continued. "The ability to cast fire, lightning, ice, and curative magic is in his disposal. He only needs to think and aim."

"Sora!", Goofy yelped suddenly. "Watch yer back!"

He spun around in time to see Yoris run past him, and the Trickmaster take one step forward, its foot slamming into the floor near Sora and shaking the earth, right before it took another swing with its flaming limbs. All six below fled in all directions in a successful dodge. As soon as the coast was clear, Sora returned, the Keyblade flashing blue.

Yi then leapt high onto the table to confront me. He then rushed me and struck with his halberd, which I defended with my shield. I thought of zapping and I saw electricity gather in front of my DirLuxGun. As I pushed Yi away, I aimed and unleashed the bolt. The attack didn't kill him, but he spazzed for a few seconds. Meanwhile…

"Take this!", Sora yelled as he pointed the Keyblade at the Trickmaster.

Nothing. Sora looked down at his Keyblade, confused. The Trickmaster reared one gargantuan leg back and slammed it hard into the floor, making the ground shake again. Sora dodged as quickly as he could in a side roll and then pointed the Keyblade at the monster again. Still nothing came out.

Meanwhile, Yi recovered and continued his assault. I decided to jump off the table and onto the floor to where my comrades were. As Yi was about to follow, I aimed my gun at Yi and thought of flames. Suddenly, a fireball appeared in front of my DirLuxGun and launched itself right at Yi who swung his halberd and deflected the attack. As he landed on the floor, a fireball from Yoris hit him on the side and he stumbled next to the Trickmaster.

"You gotta really focus yourself on what you're tryin' to do!", Donald yelled at Sora. I turned to see him hiding under the table's legs as he listened to Donald. "If you're gonna be channeling magic using the Keyblade, try and concentrate all your power on it! Imagine your power freezing over your opponent! Focus your heart!"

Sora swallowed hard and then looked back at the Trickmaster, who was currently going after Goofy as he ran around in circles, howling. Yi ust stood there, disoriented from Yoris' fireball. Sora closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating. He gripped the Keyblade tighter in his hands. It began to glow more brilliantly than before. Sora opened his eyes and smiled. Running from his hiding place, Sora pointed the Keyblade at the Trickmaster and Yi, holding it with both hands as it flashed pale blue and turned icy cold. He clenched his teeth together.

"**Deep freeze**!", he cried out. (7)

A powerful blast of ice exploded from the end of the Keyblade and beelined toward the Trickmaster and Yi. The two barely even had time to react as the icy beam struck them, the green soldier first. The ice spread like a virus around Yi's body, encompassing him in a thick layer of ice. It also spread to the Trickmaster and it met the same fate. Sora's eyes went wide as he slowly lowered the Keyblade. A smile slowly grew on his face. Donald and Goofy raced over to Sora, throwing their arms excitedly around his neck.

"You did it, kid!"

On the table, the Cheshire Cat's expression changed to a look of surprise, his moon shaped smile wiped off his face for the first time. "Wow."

We all turned as as the Trickmaster's frozen body hurtled toward the floor and on Yi and shattered both into thousands of icy shards, each of which glowed softly before dissipating into the air. I winced from the thought of a literally shattered life. The thought of ending a living being's life didn't go well for me. I was only glad I didn't deal the finishing blow. A large purplish-blue heart then appeared among the debris, hovering over for a while before vanishing in thin air.

"I can't believe we had to kill an actual person.", Yoris said as we all came together.

"True.", Gregorio sighed.

Sora sighed as well, but in relief as Donald and Goofy released him and celebrated amongst themselves. The doorknob then began to moan and then yawned loudly, making us turn around to look. He opened his eyes sleepily, smacking his lips together.

"What a racket.", he groaned. "How's a doorknob to get any sleep?"

The doorknob yawned again, his mouth opening widely. Suddenly, something glimmered in the doorknob's mouth. Sora blinked, raising one eyebrow in surprise. We all leaned forward, caught a glimpse of that strange something.

"Is that a keyhole?", I asked.

The keyhole suddenly shone from within the doorknob's mouth. The Keyblade began to rattle in Sora's grasp, moving of its own free will, flashing in different colors. Sora seized the handle with both hands and held on as tightly as he could. The Keyblade aimed itself at the doorknob, freezing in place like it had locked on to something, and then fired a beam of light from its tip. The beam shot through the doorknob's mouth and revealed a tiny keyhole within, which shone brilliantly, revealing itself to us, and then faded away with a loud clicking noise.

The doorknob shut its mouth at last, mumbling before falling into a deep slumber. Sora readjusted himself so that he was standing firmly on both feet, the Keyblade dropping as if it was removed from an invisible lock.

"What was that?", Donald murmured in shock.

"You hear that?", Sora asked his companions. "Sounded like something closed."

"Yeah. Like a lock.", Gregorio said.

Sora and I looked down at the Keyblade in awe. Just then, something small and light fell to the floor and slid across the surface. It was a small diamond shaped block made out of some kind of gummy material. It was colored in shades of yellow and green, flat on one side and somewhat rounded on the other, as if cut off from something. Goofy bent down and picked it up. Both he and Donald examined the item carefully.

"It's a Gummi block!", Goofy cried out. He chuckled, raising it slightly. "This Gummi ain't like the others."

Donald peered at the piece curiously, looked at each of us, and then took it carefully from Goofy. "Okay, I'll hold on to it."

"Uhh… 'Gummi block'?", I echoed, scratching my head.

Goofy laughed slightly. "It's a mechanical part from another Gummi ship, kinda like ours."

"'Another'?", Yoris repeated.

"Splendid.", the Cheshire Cat said, applauding. All eyes turned on the Cheshire Cat as he stopped clapping and leaned on his tail like it was a wall. The cat's smile grew so that it touched from one ear to the other. "You fellows are quite the heroes."

"Whose side are you—", Sora began to say.

"If you're looking for Alice, she's not here.", the cat said, interrupting Sora. "She's gone! Off with the shadows, into darkness."

"No…"

Gregorio took out what looked like a PDA and checked the screen. "The feline's right.", he said. "Alice is no longer in Wonderland."

The Cheshire Cat shrugged his shoulders and vanished, humming his usual tune in the most haunting manner. Sora shut his eyes sadly. Donald placed one hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Let's go back to our Gummi ship.", Donald said softly. "We might find her in another world."

Sora turned his eyes to look at Donald. At the sight of the duck's sympathetic face, Sora dragged up the best smile he could offer and nodded silently.

"Yeah…"

Donald gave Sora a brotherly pat on the back as he helped Sora to his feet.

"Well, how do we return to normal size?", I asked.

All of a sudden, the two bottles from before reappeared on the table, having vanished during the battle.

"Let's get onto the table.", Yoris suggested. Once we were all on the table, he went to the red bottle. "Maybe we should try this." Before we could say anything, he took off the bottle's cork and took a sip from it. He then jumped off the table as he quickly returned to normal size. Shrugging our shoulders, we each followed in turn, me being the last. Once we were back to normal size, we all headed back to where we met.

"Now how do we get back on the ship?", Donald complained, realizing we were stuck.

"No need to worry.", Gregorio said as he took out the teleportation device. "Everyone hold hands." Everybody complied. Gregorio pressed the button and we left Wonderland.

Gummi Ship Time: Together

The six of us arrived at the Transwarp Room of the Destiny.

"Whoa!", Sora gasped as he looked around. "This looks cooler than ours!"

"How'd you get a Gummi Ship?" Donald asked sternly.

"Have you forgotten?"

"Oh, right." They were told when we introduced each other.

"We'll be taking you back to **your** Gummi Ship now.", Gregorio said as he activated the screen, which showed Sora's vessel.

"It's called the Excalibur, by the way.", Sora said. "Our ship."

"Okay. Taking you back to the Excalibur. Please remain on your platforms."

As Yoris and I got off ours, Gregorio then pressed a few buttons. In a few seconds, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were teleported out of our vessel and onto the ground near theirs. We watched them enter their Gummi Ship, and once it started its engines, the three of us quickly made our way to the cockpit. The second we took our seats, we saw the Excalibur already sailing the stars. Gregorio piloted our ship so it would go right next to theirs. He then pushed a few buttons and a screen showed up. On that screen, Donald was on the controls, and Sora and Goofy were on the side seats. Sora was looking real lonely.

"Captain Gregorio to Captain Donald, over.", he spoke.

"Captain Donald to Captain Gregorio. I read you, over."

"Sora looks real worried. His depression might deplete your vessels fuel. Please cheer him up, over."

"Roger that, over." Donald turned to Sora and said, "Nothin' to be worried about, kid!"

"A-hyuck! We'll find 'em, Sora!", Goofy assured.

"There are as many worlds as there are stars," Donald continued, a determined twinkle in his eyes. "And if you wanna live to search 'em all, you'd better cheer up this instant!"

"Could you get us on speakers, Donald?", Gregorio asked over the com link.

"Can do, over."

There were a couple of beepings and before we knew it, we were connected.

"Sora.", Yoris called. "Don't forget that all hope is not lost. You've got us supporting you, not just Donald and Goofy."

"You're right.", Sora said with a smile. "No use crying when there's still work to be done, huh?"

"That's the spirit, Sora! We're with you on the search for Riku, Kairi, Florina, and Windelle. Together as one, we can do anything."

"Okay.", he then turned to Donald. "So, where to next?"

"To the stars, kid!", the duck said with a wink. "Wherever destiny leads us!"

"Yee-haw!", Gregorio whooped. "I'm glad we had this talk, over and out."

With that, we ended our conversation. And I decided to nod off, letting the Refresher System do its work.

-During our meeting up together, just before leaving, 'I' mixed my Diary entries with Jiminy's Journal entries.-

**Sora -updated-**

A spirited youth who is a native of Destiny Islands. When the Heartless attacked the islands, he received a mysterious weapon called the Keyblade. However, during the islands' last moments of existence, he disappeared. Fortunately, we found him travelling with two companions and we now travel alongside him.

**Donald Duck**

Royal Magician. Skilled in magic, but can be short-tempered and stubborn. He set out in the gummi ship with Goofy to find the king. Donald has joined forces with Sora, the key bearer alluded to in the king's letter.

Donald made his screen debut in "The Wise Little Hen" (1934).

**Goofy**

Captain of the royal knights. He avoids fighting whenever possible. Mickey's most loyal subject. He set out in the gummi ship with Donald to find King Mickey. He has joined forces with Sora, obeying Mickey's command to follow the key bearer.

Goofy made his first screen appearance in "Mickey's Revue" (1932).

**Jiminy Cricket**

Royal chronicler who accompanies Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

He first appeared in "Pinocchio" (1940).

**Mickey**

King of Disney Castle. He set out to learn more about the darkness, and left instructions for Donald and Goofy to find and follow the key bearer. No one knows where King Mickey is now, but they are determined to find him.

He made his debut in "Steamboat Willie" (1928).

**White Rabbit**

Loyal servant to the Queen of Hearts. He led Sora and his friends to the Queen of Hearts' castle.

He wasn't late for his appearance in "Alice in Wonderland" (1951).

**Doorknob**

A talking doorknob in the door to Wonderland. To enter, you must turn him-and "One good turn deserves another," as he would say.

Doorknob was the only character in "Alice in Wonderland" (1951) who didn't first appear in the original story.

**Alice**

A girl who fell down a rabbit hole into Wonderland. She often daydreams and is naturally curious. Falsely accused of trying to steal the queen's heart, she was given an unfair trial and falsely convicted.

She fell down the rabbit hole in "Alice in Wonderland" (1951).

**Queen of Hearts**

A queen of Wonderland who lives in a castle with decks and decks of card soldiers. Selfish and short-tempered, she beheads anyone who crosses her. She thinks Alice tried to steal her heart.

She struck terror in our hearts in "Alice in Wonderland" (1951).

**Cards (Hearts)**

Spear-carrying guards who serve the Queen of Hearts. They fear the short-tempered queen and are careful not to irritate her.

Marched onto the scene in "Alice in Wonderland" (1951).

**Cards (Spades)**

Troops with heavy axes who serve the Queen of Hearts. They fear their short-tempered queen, and are careful not to irritate her.

Marched onto the scene in "Alice in Wonderland" (1951).

**Cheshire Cat**

A mysterious, grinning cat who talks in riddles and can appear and disappear at will. He loves to mislead and confuse.

He entered with a big smile in "Alice in Wonderland" (1951).

**Trickmaster**

Heartless that the company encounter while they searched for Alice. His herky-jerky attacks and juggling act flustered his opponents.

**Yi**

A mysterious man who was after Sora and Rael. He was also the one behind the Heartless attack in Wonderland. He was frozen and shattered along with the Trickmaster.

-See ya on Third.-

(1) Remember, this story is from 'my' perspective, so this is all 'I' know of him.

(2) In the original, Sora doesn't identify us until at Hollow Bastion. The reason why I change this is because I thought it'd be difficult (as well as ridiculous) to keep up such a long masquerade.

(3) But I'm sure most of you knew that already.

(4) I haven't watched _Alice In Wonderland_, for a long while.

(5) Or clovers, however you like to say it.

(6) Look up any Kingdom Hearts Walkthrough on YouTube to see what I'm trying to say.

(7) He usually says this in the game.


	7. Chapter 6: Olympus Coliseum

nightelf37: Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there (or the manga), I 'own' it.

Chapter 6: Olympus Coliseum

Part I. The Opening Theme

nightelf37 comes into the scene dressed in a Barong Tagalog (1) with a sheet of paper on hand.

"Readers, this is nightelf37, writer of the Kingdom Hearts Remake series. Once again, I have decided to put in yet another what I call "AMV in script form", the first one being the one at Chapter 2 of my "Kingdom Hearts Remake 3: The Heartless Syndicate". This time, I'll be using my favortie animé's first opening theme; Mermaid Melody PIchi Pichi Pitch. I know it might not please you to watch this for some of you, but my mind is set. As always, as some of the story is in Rael's perspective, who is also me, so to speak, his name will be censored by (-_-) so as to avoid pronoun confusions. Opening start!"

_(short music)_

"Hi. My name is Rael. I don't know why, but for some reason, I suddenly ended up on Destiny Islands."

('Scene' of (-_-) waking up on Destiny Islands)

"There, I met a girl named Florina, who introduced me to the other kids on the islands. "

('Scene' of (-_-) being pulled along by Florina, then to 'scenes' of Wakka, Tidus, Selphie, Yoris, Gregorio, Windelle, Riku, Kairi, and Sora)

"However, the Heartless attacked, destroying the islands and sending most of us to Traverse Town."

('Scene' of the islands under attack by the Heartless, scene of Sora, (-_-), and Florina with their weapons, fighting off Heartless, then being sucked into the 'orb', then scene of (-_-) waking up in the alleys of Traverse Town)

"There, after meeting some faces, I found out that many of the islanders were safe."

('Scene' of (-_-) encountering Irvine and battling him, then of meeting his companions, then of reuniting with Selphia, Wakka, and Tidus)

"However, Florina, Riku, Windelle, and Kairi were still missiing, and it's up to me, Gregorio, and Yoris to find them."

('Scenes' of Florina looking right at (-_-), Riku and Windelle being sucked into the darkness, Kairi flying into Sora's arms and disappearing, then of (-_-), Gregorio, and Yoris in the Destiny, sailing across the stars)

"As for Sora? He's on an adventure too, with Court Mage Donald, and Captain Goofy. And they're on their own mission too."

('Scenes' of Sora, accompanied with Donald and Goofy in the Excalibur, then of our 'teams' meeting up at Wonderland)

_Now Playing: Taiyou no Rakuen (Paradise of the Sun) ~Promised Land~ by Miyuki Kanbe_

_(short instrumental)_

"Now that is over with, stay tuned. As our adventure continues!"

('Scene' of (-_-) and Sora back-to-back, ready to fight; fade to white)

_Ookina tabi ni deyou taiyou to kaze no kanata he_

(scene of black, symbol of Sora's necklace suddenly shines out of nowhere, then 'camera' zooms through it to get a view of outer space, revealing two Gummi Ships sailing)

_Kitto chizu ni ha nai rakuen no doa wo hiraite _

(shift to horizontal split scene of the Excalibur on the top, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy at the bottom in their cockpit on the bottom; shift to horizontal split scene of the Destiny on bottom and (-_-), Gregorio, and Yoris in their cockpit on the top; scene of the two ships flying across space; fade to white)

_(short instrumental)_

(fade to the classic "Kingdom Hearts" logo, with a yellow box at the lower right reading _Remake_)

_Kono sekai ni kimi ga umareta asa _

(scene of faded 'circle' with event to the left and background of red filled with white symbols of Sora's necklace; event is of Sora walking down a street of Traverse Town; shift to letterbox view of that screen, with Sora 'in front' of it who had his hands behind his head and eyes closed, he then opens his eyes)

_Shukufuku no kane ga natta _

(scene of faded 'circle' with event to the right and background of yellow filled with stars; event is of (-_-) standing at another street; shift to letterbox view of that screen, with (-_-) 'in front' of it who just stands there, he then raises his hand as if to greet Sora)

(shift to various split screens; one slant split with Sora tilted slightly to the right on the left side and (-_-) flipped reverse on the other; another which is horzontal, showing Sora's eyes at the top and (-_-)'s at the bottom; another which is slant with the left side having (-_-) and the right having Sora, both facing away from each other; another with a 'pillarbox' and two separate panels together, the left having (-_-) and the right having Sora; another which is horizontal, showing (-_-)'s gloves at the top and Sora's at the bottom; yet another which is vertical showing headshots of Sora on the left and (-_-) on the right, facing each other; then the same as before, only this time showing full body shots and both of them walking towards each other)

_Tatta hitotsu takaramono wo daite _

(scene of faded 'circle' with event to the left and background of blue filled with 'Mickey' symbols; event is of Donald and Goofy sitting at a table (1); shift to letterbox view of that screen, with the two 'in front' of it who seem to be waiting for someone, they then both turn to 'camera' and wave gleefully)

_Hito wa umaretekuru _

(scene of faded 'circle' with event to the right and background of green filled with black stars; event is of Gregorio and Yoris walking forward (1); shift to letterbox view of that screen, with the two 'in front' of it who then stop, and then look up to 'meet eyes' with the camera)

(letterbox shifts to green and the two now 'behind' it as their images move to the left; shift to blue letterbox slanted from bottom left to top right, showing Donald and Goofy turned to the right and looking to their right; shift to orange letterbox slanted from top left to bottom right, showing Sora and (-_-) back-to-back; shift to screen split into three parts with two dividers going from bottom left to top right, left screen has Goofy, the center has Sora, and the right has Donald; scene of three 'eyedscreens' (2), Yoris' on top, (-_-)'s in the middle, Gregorio's at the bottom; horizontal split scene with (-_-) and co. on top and Sora and co. at bottom)

_Ano hi no kimochi wo wasurenaide kokoro ni nagareru _

(view of space, with white outlines of (-_-) at the left and Sora at the right in the 'distance', slowly converging to one another; at third 'beat', white outlines of the two's faces converging the same way; at seventh 'beat', outlines 'cross' one another and the faces' eyes open as they diverge)

_Dear My Songs _

(fade from darkness to light while headshots of Riku, Windelle, Florina, and Kairi flash)

_Bokura wa tabi no tochuu taiyou no kuni wo mezashite _

(scene of (-_-)'s DirLuxGun being summoned, then of (-_-)'s riot shield, then of Sora's Keyblade, which is then flipped so it is gripped tight; then to ascending scene of (-_-) assuming a defensive stance, then of Sora's 'simple' battle stance)

_Donna chizu ni monai _

(scene of Yoris turning right to face the 'camera' with his bazooka, then of Gregorio turning left with his javelin, then of Goofy turning right with his shield, then of Donald turning left with his staff)

_Yakusoku no basho he _

(shift to dark scene with Maleficent and Xin back-to-back (3); then zoom out to reveal two sinister figures overshadow them, one of them simple-looking)

_Arifureta monogatari wo _

(scene of Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith in the Second District Inn, then of Cid in his shop, then of Merlin in his home (4))

_Hateshinai mirai ni kaete _

(scene of Irvine, Rinoa, Quistis, and Zell in their room at the Refuge Asylum, then of Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka in theirs)

_Kitto ironna yume kanaete yuku kara... waratte _

(cut to scene of the Excalibur and Destiny in a space dogfight against enemy ships, then as they clear a path, zoom onward as screen fades to white)

_(short instrumental)_

(fade to a 'luminous' background where Gregorio and Yoris wait at the left and Donald and Goofy wait at the right; as the logos of FanFiction . Net, Disney, Square-Enix, and "Story Crew" show in the middle, Sora runs to his group at the right and (-_-) runs to his group at the left, Sora then flairs a bit by spinning the Keyblade in his hand and then resting it on his shoulder)

A movie projector turns off, revealing to have played the opening theme.

"And that's it.", nightelf37 says. "On with the story!"

Part II. Go the Distance

In the vastness of space, two ships sailed it. One was the simple, red-and-yellow Kingdom model Gummi Ship named the Excalibur. The other was of the purple-green-and-blue Adamant model, named the Destiny. At least that's how the Excalibur's little chipmunk mechanics Chip and Dale refer them as. Yoris was currently making small talk with the two as Donald put the Excalibur on autopilot and checked the engines. Gregorio slept on Yoris' seat. Sora and Gofy slept on theirs. I sat up on mine as I listened in.

"So why are your tails short?", Yoris asked. "From what I've read, male chipmunks have tails as long as their entire bodies. It's female chipmunks that have tails as short as yours. Are you really—"

"We're not girls!", Chip stated in a furious manner. "Our tails are just covered with vanishing paint that just won't come off, that's all!"

"So that's it."

Just then, Donald returned and shooed the chipmunks back to their quarters. He then returned to his pilot' seat and saw Yoris on the screen.

"As much as I like being able to communicate with other Gummi Ships, this is straight out abusing it.", the duck said.

"Speak for yourself. Did you know that Chip and Dale are actually girls?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, if you must know, male chipmunks have tails as long as their entire bodies. So…"

"So what? Their tails are just covered with vanishing paint that just won't come off."

"Oh, you know that?"

"Of course I do. Now may we please end this conversation? This screen is blocking the view."

"Oh. Sorry."

With that, both vessels closed their screens. The moment they did, both Donald and Yoris both leaned forward in their seats, as if unable to believe what was ahead.

"What're you looking at, Yoris?", I asked.

There was a white object floating in the distance, slowly getting closer. "I think that's a building."

"What?", Gregorio asked as he got up with a start.

We looked and saw he was right; that something looked like a building, surrounded by wisps of white clouds and mist. It seemed to be perched on a platform floating out in the middle of space. I could hardly believe my eyes. There was actually a building.

As the Excalibur aproached it to disembark, the Destiny was 'stopped' and the three of us headed to the Transwarp Room. Gregorio opened the screen to show Sora, Donld, and Goofy standing before a very large stone building. Gregorio set the coordinates, and we were teleported right next to the three as we looked at what was ahead of us.

It seemed like a giant off-white fortress, as its front wall seemed to be similar to that of castles from the medieval times. There were several large rectangular windows, though they were too high up for any of us to look through. There was a large gate that looked like it came from Greece, with the stone pillars on either side of it, along with two large, intricate gold markings. Embossed above the large double doors was a golden image of armored men who held their swords in the most heroic manner. On the doors themselves were the lightning bolt carvings, pointing to each other.

The six of us stepped up to the doors and touched them.

"Whaddaya suppose is in here?", Goofy asked his companions.

Sora took a step backward. "I dunno.", he replied. He then made a smile. "But I can't wait to find out!" He then shoved himself up against one of the doors, trying to push it open. "Help me out, guys."

Gregorio, Yoris, and Goofy immediately joined Sora in heaving the double doors open, while Donald just rolled his eyes and tapped one foot impatiently on the floor. I, on the other hand, just stood there with Donald. Just then, the sun shone through the thick fog, illuminating the fortress, making the off white stone seem to glow gold. After a moment, the doors were open enough for all us to slip through and step in.

Apparently, this gate led to an opening area to a building still further within. On the wall opposite us were two large gold statues of two men in Grecian armor, holding their shields and swords, their blades clashing dramatically over another set of doors just below, which were similar to what we just went through. At the feet of the statues were small torches, which were lit, even though the sun was shining.

"What is this place?", Sora murmured, his question directed at no one in particular.

Donald shook his head. "Who knows?"

Goofy tapped Sora on the shoulder with a grin. "Let's go take a look in there, Sora!", he suggested cheerily. "Maybe there's someone inside who can tell us somethin'."

"Good thinking, Goofy!", Sora smiled back. "Let's go!"

As the two took off running to the other side, Donald scratched his head. "Did he just say 'thinking' and 'Goofy' in the same sentence?"

"He did.", Gregorio confirmed. "We heard him as clearly as you did."

As the rest of us hurried to catch up with Sora and Goofy, the two have pushed open the doors slowly and peered inside. As we caught up, I could see that through the door, there was a lobby of some kind. There were two torches on either side of the small stone room casting their light on the walls. Opposite the entrance was a doorway that currently had a small metal chain across it with a "closed" sign in boxy writing. On one side of the room was a large stone pedestal, standing beneath one of the torches. There was a smaller, different looking pedestal that looked more like the top of a stone column pushed against the wall beneath a sign.

On that pedestal working on that sign was what I recognized in Greek mythology as a satyr. His goat half was small, plump, and reddish brown. His humam half was that of a small, plump, human man with red hair and a goatee. Two goat horns protruded from the top of his balding head, and his goat tail wagged as he examined the sign posted on the wall before him.

We exchanged glances before approaching him slowly.

"Umm… Excuse me?", Sora moved forward slightly, nervously.

"Good timing.", the satyr barked as he fixed the sign. "Give me a hand, will ya?" Without looking at us, he pointed to the large stone pedestal on the other side. "Move that pedestal over there for me? I gotta spruce this place up for the games."

We looked over at the large stone pedestal, then at each other, and shrugged. Sora moved to one side of the pedestal and began to push it as hard as he could, but it wouldn't budge. He looked at us, his eyes wide.

"It weighs a **ton**!", he told us.

He tried harder, digging his sneakers into the stone floor, only to find that it seemed more like the pedestal was pushing him. We all then moved to help him, only to get the same results. It seemed more like it was part of the floor. We managed to move it an inch, but only an inch. By then, we were exhausted. Sora groaned, leaning against the pedestal in defeat, and looked over at the goat-man.

"It's way too heavy!", he moaned pathetically, recovering.

We helped each other to our feet as we moved back toward the satyr, who froze upon hearing the words. "What? Too heavy?", he laughed. "Since when have you been such a little—" The satyr turned around to see us and he stopped talking and dropped his arms. "Oh. Wrong guy." The satyr put his hands on his goat hips as he stared down at us. "What're you doing here?" He hopped down from his pedestal. "This here's the world-famous Coliseum – heroes only!" He then turned to Donald, approaching him maliciously. The duck backed up and raised his hands as though in surrender. "And I got my hands full preparing for the games. So run along, pip-squeaks."

Sora narrowed his eyes at the goat-man, clenching his teeth together, his hands turning into fists at his side.

"What is it with this guy?", I heard Gregorio mutter under his breath.

The satyr looked up at Sora, putting his hands on his sides. Upon seeing Sora's frustrated, offended expression, his face softened slightly.

"Look, it's like this." He turned on one goat hoof and paced across the room. "Heroes are comin' from all over to fight ferocious monsters right here in the Coliseum."

Donald folded his arms angrily over his chest, narrowing his eyes. "You got heroes standing right in front of you."

Goofy grinned. "Yup!" He put his gloved hands on Sora's shoulders proudly. "He's a real hero chosen by the Keyblade!"

Sora smiled, slightly embarrassed by being singled out.

"And we're heroes, too.", Donald added proudly.

"I wouldn't exactly say that.", I admited sheepishly.

The goat-man's eyes went wide. "Hero?", he echoed in disbelief, pointing one finger at Sora. "That runt?" He then went into a series of uncontrollable laughter, slapping his goat thighs and clutching his sides.

"What's so funny?", Sora demanded, taking offense. "I've fought a bunch of monsters!"

As soon as the goat-man stopped laughing, his angry face reappeared. "Hey, if you can't even move this…", he said, moving to the pedestal. He placed both hands on one side and began to shove as hard as he could. The stone block wouldn't budge. I heard Gregorio snigger a little. "…you can't call yourself…" He paused as he shifted positions and pushed it with his back. The six of us exchanged glances, shaking our heads shallowly. "…a hero!" The satyr collapsed against the side of the pedestal and gasped for air, coughing slightly. After a moment, he looked at us as Sora and Donald rolled their eyes.

"Okay.", the satyr said grumpily. "So it takes more than brawn." He rose to his feet. "Well, let's see what you can do."

He then dusted himself off and waddled across the room. Glancing over his shoulder, he gestured for us to follow. And so we did as the satyr loosened the chain blocking the entry way.

"This way.", he said, gesturing to the entrance before entering himself.

We exchanged glances before following.

Part II. Preliminary Trials

The satyr had led us into a huge battle arena like the ones found in history books about ancient Greece, although this definitely wasn't the Colloseum (that's Rome, which derived some parts from Greece). Along two sides were the seats; gigantic slabs of stone carved to serve as benches for an audience. Between these 'bleachers' was the actual arena, signified by six large stone pillars forming an irregular hexagon. Within the boundaries, the flooring was no longer as smooth compared to the flooring of the lobby; possibly to help fighters maintain their footing during battle.

Opposite of the entrance to the arena was a large, caged doorway. From what I've read and watched back where I came from, I remembered that beyond that caged gate would be our opponents. In Greece (and perhaps Rome), they used lions and other kinds of wild beasts. Something told me however that our opponents would be monsters. Thoughts of Heartless flooded my mind.

At the moment, the satyr was moving sets of wooden barrels into the ring, putting them in some kind of formation. He had incited Goofy, Donald, Yoris, and Gregorio to help him move them around, but had insisted that Sora and I stay put on the wooden bench. We twiddled our thumbs and gazed at our surroundings, particularly at a small chalkboard nearby, which had numerous scratches on its surface.

"I wonder why I was exempt?", I wondered. "There's no way he could've seen me as a potential."

"Who knows?", Sora asked. "Maybe he does."

"I didn't even say anything."

"Neither did I."

"But Goofy did."

As said person set down a barrel in the spot the satyr pointed out to him, he looked up at the mythical creature.

"How do you know so much about heroes, Mr. Goat-man, sir?", Goofy asked.

"'Cause I'm a hero trainer.", the satyr said gruffly as he hurried to grab hold of another barrel. "The name's Philoctetes. Call me Phil."

"Can I ask another question, Mr. Phil?", Goofy continued. "Uh, how come you're half goat?"

Phil glanced over at Goofy in an annoyed manner.

"You never seen a satyr before?"

"Nope."

The satyr shook his head from side to side, clearly annoyed.

"I have.", I said. All eyes turned to me, making me a little uncomfortable. "But you're the first one I've seen in person."

"So, if you're a hero trainer, who've you trained so far?", Sora asked curiously.

Phil scoffed, as if that was a silly question. "I've trained all those would-be heroes; Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus.", Phil paused, making a face. "A lot of -eus's. Then there was Achilles." A smile crossed his face briefly. "That guy practically had it all. But none o' those guys could go the distance the way that he can."

"He was practically invincible.", Yoris added. "Save for a weak point in his heel."

"How did you know that?", Phil asked in surprise.

"I have my ways."

"We're all done, Mr. Hero Trainer, sir!", Goofy interrupted with a chuckle.

Phil looked over at the work that had been done and nodded his approval. "Good work.", he said firmly. And then turned back to Sora, saying, "This trial's tough, kids. You ready?"

Sora practically jumped to his feet, a grin on his face. "Am I ever!"

I stood up slowly. "Sure. So…what do we do?"

The trainer pointed to the barrels. "All ya gotta do is break all o' those barrels in less than a minute. Got it?"

Eagerly, Sora smiled. "No problem."

We ran forth, willing our weapons into our hands. We positioned ourselves in a place where we could see all of the barrels. There were three sets; one was placed in a V shape to the left, another in a semi-circle at the right, and the last stacked in a pyramid beyond the V-shaped set. Sora and I looked over at Phil and waited for his signal. The satyr waddled to the bench and seated himself on it. As soon as he was settled, he looked over and dropped his hand like a flag.

Almost immediately, Sora took off to his right, holding the Keyblade out to his side as he U-turned along the set of barrels. The Keyblade struck nearly every barrel, destroying them as Sora passed. As Sora then headed for the V shape, picking up speed, I noticed a few barrels remain standing and I cleaned up after Sora by shooting them down. Meanwhile, Sora slashed through the V-shape barrel formation, striking left and right. As he left a few barrels behind, I gunned them down and ran to the center of the arena so I could get a better vantage point.

I saw a line of three barrels a ways away from the barrel pyramid. Knowing Sora could handle the latter, I aimed for the barrel line and charged my DirLuxGun. I managed to learn recently that I could make a 'charge shot' and that's what I did. As Sora spun in a wide circle, destroying the pyramid, I unleashed a strong beam from my DixLuxGun and it pierced the barrel line, destroying them all.

As soon as the dust settled, we quickly searched out for straggler barrels and cut or shot them down with ease.

Phil raised his hand. "Time!" The satyr's eyes were wide with surprise. "31 seconds!" He looked up at us and smiled slightly, impressed. "You know, you ain't bad."

Sora chuckled to himself as he approached Phil, putting his arms over his head. He grinned confidently at Donald, who gave him a thumbs up. "Looks like I'm headed for the games."

"I wouldn't be sure.", I grumbled.

Phil's face immediately hardened as he put his fists on his waist. "Afraid your friend's right. You're not headed for the games."

Both Donald and Sora's faces dropped as they turned to look at Phil in disbelief. Sora's hands fell from behind his head and he lurched forward. "Why not?"

"Two words!", Phil barked, raising two fingers for Sora to see. "You guys ain't heroes!"

"Wait a second! That's **four** words!", Yoris corrected.

"Come on!", Sora pleaded stubbornly.

"Wanna become a real hero? Start by mastering this spell." Phil took out a tiny yellow scroll and gave it to Sora, who took it. The moment he touched it, it disappeared and he felt a spaz. "You now have the power of lightning. Now leave."

Phil then folded his arms over his chest and turned his back on us. After a long moment of tense silence, Sora relented. Upset, Sora gestured to us and led the way out of the arena in silence. We walked through the lobby, out the front doors, and down the stone steps into the courtyard.

"Oh, how could I have forgotten?", Donald gasped.

"What?", Yoris asked.

"I forgot to give Sora this." From his jacket, Donald took out a tiny red scroll. He handed it to Sora and when he touched it, it disappeared and Sora withdrew his hand as if he scalded it. "You now have the power to use fire."

"Thanks.", Sora said.

Just then, a mysterious voice sounded from near the Coliseum entrance, causing us to slow down and stop.

"Awww, rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?", it said.

We turned to suddenly see a tall, blue skinned man in a loosely fitting black toga standing near the doorway. He was strange looking, with round yellow eyes and blue fire instead of hair. He waved one hand casually, showing a part of his smile; a crack between thin black lips, revealing jagged yellow teeth.

Donald narrowed his eyes and pointed one finger at the man accusingly. "Who are you?", he demanded.

"I think I know this fellow.", Yoris thought out loud. Before he could answer, the man began to move towards us. He laughed suddenly. "Whoa, whoa, hold on there, fuzz boy.", he said to Donald. "Wait, let me guess. You want to enter the games, right?"

He put his hands on Sora's and my shoulder. I looked down at the hand. His blue fingers were long and skinny, and the tips felt cold. A strange chill ran up and down my spine. I felt like I knew who this man was. Before I could say his name, the man continued, "Well, then, hey.", the man added quietly, looking down into Sora's face. He removed his other hand from my shoulder. "Get a load of this."

His fingers cupped themselves and a bright white-blue light shone in them. Then suddenly, there was a long, thin, beige slip of paper bearing the same symbols found all around the Coliseum. Even though I didn't understand it, I felt like I knew what it was.

"A pass?", I guessed.

"That's right. It's all yours.", the man said with a mysterious smile as he gave Sora the pass. He released Sora from his hold and began to walk toward the exit. "Good luck, kid."

Sora turned excitedly to us. "We can get into the games!", he told them in a hushed, urgent voice.

As we made our way back to the lobby, I couldn't help but turn around at the man. "I'm pulling for you, little shorty.", I managed to hear him say.

_Just what could that mean?_, I thought. I decided to brush the thought aside as we reached the lobby.

Clutching the entry pass between two fingers and holding it out in front of him, Sora ran toward Phil, who turned around at the sound of Sora's approach. Sora screeched to a halt and handed Phil the pass as we caught up. He peered at the slip of paper for a moment, then looked up in surprise.

"Hey, how'd you get this?"

"Can we enter the games now?", Sora asked hurriedly.

Phil looked back down at the pass, scratching his head for a moment. "Well… I guess so." He smiled slightly and nodded at us. "We start with the preliminaries! You ready?"

The Key Bearer took a moment to check with his companions before answering. "Let's go!"

As Phil unhooked the chain blocking the arena entrance, he looked over at us briefly. "Some real weirdos signed up for the games.", he cautioned. "Better watch yourself."

We nodded at Phil as he then led us back into the arena. Just as Sora moved to follow, Donald grabbed the hood of his jacket.

"Hey, what're you..."

"We could end up facing some Heartless.", Donald whispered to Sora.

Silently, Sora nodded. "I know."

Part III. Entering The Tournament

When we entered the arena, we couldn't believe who was there. On the bleachers were all sorts of people. Of course, they were dressed in a manner expected from Romans or Greeks. It didn't even take a second for me to figure that this was the audience. People were actually gonna watch us battle, as if we were gladiators. Hopefully, the battles wouldn't be to the death. I shuddered from that thought.

When we stepped into the arena, a barrier formed around the field, perhaps for protecting the spectators from stray projectiles and from us or our opponents from leaving. Just then, our opponents emerged from the caged doorway revealing…

"Heartless?", Goofy gasped.

Four Soldiers and three blue versions of the Red Nocturne walked out of the doorway and into the barrier to confront us.

"Now who saw this coming?", Gregorio groaned as we prepared for battle.

"Well, this works for me.", I said. I then thought, _Even if it's a fight to the death, this'll be a cinch._

We brought out our weapons and the fight was on. However, it wasn't much of a fight thanks to the Fire spell we had. As soon it was over, the Diary spoke up.

"Blue Rhapsody. Spellcasting Heartless. They approach their enemies by bouncing about and attack with Blizzard and absorb blizzard attacks."

About that same time, the crowd was cheering. Impulsively, I dismissed my shield and wiped my forehead as I relaxed my other arm. Sora was twirling his Keyblade before resting it on his shouder. Goofy was doing a short dance. Donald twirled around before raising his staff upwards. Gregorio kicked his javelin into the air before catching it midair as it spun. Yoris pumped his free hand in the air.

ONce we were done with that, we returned to the sidelines, where Phil waited by the blackboard. He pulled out his clipboard, nodding his approval as he wrote some things down.

"You're no heroes yet, but you ain't doing bad.", he told us. "Lucky you came to me for coaching."

Just as soon as Phil had shut his mouth, a mysterious figure approached, having just come through the entrance to the arena. It was a tall, young man with spiky blonde hair, and piercing ice blue eyes. He was dressed in a large, baggy, bluish black garb. His torso was wrapped in a series of red, black, and navy blue belts.

His legs were strapped in by dark grey belts below his knees. The bluish-black material of his outfit bunched at his knees over the straps and at his ankles over the top of his large, seemingly heavy leather boots. On his right leg were three armored plates. His arms were wrapped in long black guards extending down his forearm such that they stuck out from underneath his fingerless leather gloves.

The man's left arm was adorned by additional pieces: a metal armored plate on the shoulder and four spiked metal bands; two on his lower arm and two on his upper. The fingers on his left hand seemed to be sharp, golden hawk talons. Over his shoulders was a large crimson wrapped thickly once or twice around his neck such that the lower half of the man's face was hidden. The bottom edge of the cape looked like it was singed in a fire. He also seemed to be hiding something at his back, although his cape seemed to billow in such a way that I couldn't see it. He approached in long, slow, confident strides, looking at us for a moment before turning away.

As he bypassed us, I saw another man follow him. His appearance was much simpler compared to the blonde one. This man was dark-skinned and was much larger than the blond haired man. He wore a puffer, off-white vest, a fish-net shirt, and green pants. HIs hair was also arranged in conrows, at least that's how Yoris put it. His right hand seemed to be prosthetic and out of some kind of shiny, sturdy metal.

_These two can't be natives of Olympus Coliseum._, I thought. _That arm is obviously high-tech. There must be other competitors from other worlds._

The black heavyset man just followed the one who bypassed us seconds ago, only he didn't so much as glance at us. Phil watched as the two men walked away, stroking his goatee before letting out a low, impressed whistle and shook his head slowly. He folded his stubby arms over his chest.

"Something tells me they'll be toughies.", Phil mused aloud. "Especially the one with the red cape." He looked up at us. "Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing them."

I took a glance back over at those two people. _Hmm…am I really ready to take on yet another non-Heartless opponent? I still remember the last time. But __**he**__ was an expert marksman. I got a feeling that metal arm is more than just a prosthetic._

"You ready to get back in there, kid?", Phil asked Sora, interrupting my thoughts.

"Oh, yeah.", Sora said after a moment. "Yeah, we're ready." He turned to the others. "Right, guys?"

We all nodded. Phil tucked away his clipboard and seated himself on the bench. He pointed toward the arena and gestured for us to enter. "Then you better get out there!"

We headed back to the arena, and the second the last of us was inside, the barrier formed around the field.

_We can worry about those two later._, I thought as the next wave appeared. This time, it was ten Shadows and three Blue Rhapsodies. We dealt with them, but not as quickly or easily as the prelims. I also noticed that each time before the battle, Gregorio's left hand was in his pocket and his eye seemed to glint.

At the end of the battle, as th crowd cheered, I seemed to get the feeling to have to wipe my forehead again. Gregorio and Yoris did the same moves as before. Goofy was jumping limbs wide this time. Donald twilred like before, but this time he tucked his staff under his arm. Sora was now doing two slashes in the air before turning around and placing the Keyblade on his shoulder.

Once we were through with that, the next 'wave' came. It consisted of Red Nocturnes and Blue Rhapsodies, five each. Sora and I had to depend on magic to take them down. After a second of debate, we destroyed all the Blue Rhapsodies first as the Red Nocturnes would only get (accidentally) healed by Yoris. Once all the blue Heartless were gone, Yoris stood back and offered Potions as the rest of us finished the other half and the match.

Once again, we did those poses again, although Sora, Donald, and Goofy had different ones. I thought this to be peculiar, but decided to think about it later. Before the third battle began, we conferred with Phil again at the blackboard.

"You're better than I thought, kid!", Phil told Sora proudly. He then sighed, dropping his clipboard slightly and looking to the sky. "Wish he was here to see this."

"You mentioned this guy earlier, right?", Sora asked. "Who is it?"

"Hercules. He's a hero if there ever was one. Too bad he's off visiting his father."

We exchanged glances, Donald shrugging, although the name seemed to click in my mind. After a brief moment, Phil sent us back into the arena for the third round. Just as we entered the arena, I thought I could see some familiar faces, but I pushed the thought aside as we prepared for battle.

The third battle was surmised of two Soldiers, two Shadows, and three each of what Yoris decided to dub "Musical Wizards"; the Blue Rhapsody and Red Nocturne. It wasn't a difficult battle, but we had to exert a little more than before.

We continued into a fourth battle almost immediately after we performed our poses again. This battle had nine Blue Rhapsodies. It was a doozy, thanks to Yoris, who went crazy with his fireballs, although not enough to end up hitting us by mistake.

As we celebrated our victory, I felt that same feeling I had back at Traverse Town after Gregorio, Yoris, and I finished off the Guard Armor. Before I knew it, I found myself beyond the arena gate that always seemed to be closed. Beyond it, I saw us cheering, and myself spaced out.

I also saw the 'fire-headed' man glaring at them. His eyes were narrowed at Sora's carefree smile, the blue fire atop his head burning with a little more malice than usual.

"That little punk is your next opponent, okay?" His face hardened further. "Now don't blow it. Just take him out."

As I realized I was 'invisible' like last time, I turned around to see the two strange men from before leaning against the stone wall. They opened their eyes and turned them onto us.

"Hades, the great god of the Underworld, is afraid of a kid?", the black man asked, adding a short chuckle.

"Sorry, but my contract says—", the blonde man began to say.

"I know!", the god yelled angrily, turning to look at the 'mercenaries' in the face. The fire on the top of his head flared, flashing orange. "You think I don't know? I wrote the contract! I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament. But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him!" He pointed angrily in Sora's direction.

Right at the moment, Sora was getting some kind of scolding from the hero-trainer. As he scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, Yoris was waving his hand at my still spaced-out self's face.

Hades took a step back, taking a deep breath in to calm himself down and then changed his tone to a more playful one.

"Come on.", Hades pleaded. "Hey, it's like that old goat says. Rule number eleven: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it!" He chuckled slightly, glancing at the two 'mercenaries' out of the corner of his eye, who made no reaction. Hades straightened himself and ran a hand over his 'hair'. "I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?", he continued nonchalantly.

Wordlessly, the warrior with the red cape straightened and walked away slowly, not giving the god of the Underworld so much as a second glance. The black man followed shortly, walking across Hades's back, who watched them leave in silence. As soon as they were gone, he let out an annoyed breath.

"Geez.", he muttered. "Stiffer than the stiffs back home. Still… suckers like him are hard to come by…although that black—"

Suddenly, the vision ended as I heard an abrupt voice.

"Hey! Wake up!"

I closed my eyes and shook my head. When I opened my eyes, I was back with my companions. Gregorio was in front of me.

"Pay attention! It's our turn!"

Putting what I experienced behind me, I followed them back into the arena. Still, what I saw continued to eat into my mind.

Part IV. Cloud and Barret

We charged into our next battle, pitted against the Musical Wizards, four each. But what was most difficult was the Large Body. This battle was going to be more difficult than the others. As the rest of us dealt with the magical Heartless, Sora made a charge for the Large Body, He clutched the Keyblade tight between his hands and swung as hard as he could against the big Heartless' belly, but to no effect. The Large Body was so fat that Sora was sent backwards slightly, his weapon bouncing off of the enemy. Sora staggered somewhat as he tried to regain his footing. He bit down on his lip. This wasn't good.

"Guys! I need help!"

"Have you forgotten back at Wonderland?", Gregorio asked incerdulously. "Attack from behind! **You** discovered that."

"I know! It's just turning around too fast for me to land a hit."

"Allow me!", I said as I finished off a bunch of Blue Rhapsodies and launched a thunderbolt from my gun right at the Lardy—I mean Large Body's back. Just then, it decided to bang the side of its belly with one fist, then leap into the air, landing with a thud that sent shockwaves through the floor, knocking us down onto our rear ends. Regardless, we continued our attack and I dealt the final blow with a Charge Shot and the Large Body burst open like a balloon.

"Glad that's over.", I said as I used a Megalixir we found during our adventure at Wonderland. We were instantly rejuvenated as we for some reason performed our poses again.

"Good job.", a voice came once we were done.

We all turned to face the speaker. Standing not ten feet away from where we stood was the mysterious warrior we had seen earlier. The black man stood behind him. The blonde-haired man's gaze turned onto Sora, his ice blue eyes narrowing. Sora took a hesitant step forward.

"You're the guys from earlier.", he said as we all grouped up into formation, Sora and I in front and the others behind us.

The man nodded. "My name's Cloud Strife."

"And I'm Barret Wallace.", the black man said.

Then, without a word, Cloud brought out from his back a large, powerful sword. It seemed to weigh a ton and was at least twice Sora's height. The dark metal gleamed in the sunlight from within its wrappings of thin brown cloth. The red hilt was held by one firm, gloved hand, supporting the huge blade. As Cloud positioned himself into a ready position, clutching the sword steadily between both hands, Barret walked to Cloud's right and held out his metal hand, which transformed into a large high-tech minigun.

"You really kicked butt back there, I'll give you that.", Barret said as he clutched his 'gun arm' with his other hand. "Now show us what you're really made of!"

"Let's do the divide-and-conquer.", Sora suggested. "Donald, Goofy, and I will deal with Cloud."

"And you want me, Greogorio, and Yoris to handle Barret?", I finished. Sora nodded. "All right then."

Once we were done making small talk, we perpared for battle and split up so that we faced our self-designated opponents. Cloud made the first move by charging straight at Sora, who leapt back as a nervous reaction, nearly tripping over himself. Donald and Goofy jumped awkwardly out of Cloud's way, falling painfully onto their butts. Cloud seemed to fly at Sora with an amazing speed. Before Sora knew it, he was hurtling across the arena.

Meanwhile, Barret fired relentlessly with his gun arm. Whlle my shield could protect gainst the bullets, the force from them were pushing us back as Gregorio and Yoris hid behind me. As I struggled to walk forward, Yoris suddenly had an idea. Through an impossible maneuver (or perhaps a feature of his cannon), he launched a fireball to the side and it curved right at Barret, who took the blow and stopped his attack. As I stumbled for a moment from the sudden halt of bullet fire, Gregorio leaped into the air and thrust his javelin down on Barret. The heavyset man blocked the blow with his gun arm, which had reverted to its regular hand form. Barret then grabbed Gregorio with his left hand, then hurled him right at Donald and Goofy, who were knocked back by Cloud, who was pursuing Sora.

"Guys! Help Sora!", I commanded as I decided to deal with Barret. I shot away at the man relentlessly, not giving him a chance to get up. Suddenly, I was struck by a 'blade wave' from Cloud. Since it came from my right, I was able to defend myself with my shield, but it stopped me from attacking. Barret managed to recover at this time, turned his hand back into a gun arm, and started firing at me. As I defended against his attack, I saw Sora trying to dodge Cloud, who was ignoring the others.

"Goofy! Distract him!", Donald said as he made a break for Sora, Hi-Potion in hand. Goofy swallowed hard, then clutched his shield tight and barreled toward Cloud, shield first. Cloud stopped as Donald rushed past him, turning around to look at Goofy with his icy gaze. Gregorio then decided to charge as well. Sora was his friend too and he wasn't gonna let this happen. Yoris however turned to Barret instead and launched a fireball right at him, allowing me to resume my onslaught.

"Sora!", Donald yelled as he popped the cork off the top of the curative as he knelt near Sora, who stopped for breath. Donald helped Sora into a sitting position, and offered him the Hi-Potion. "Come on, kid, drink!"

Sora grabbed the bottle and chugged down the whole thing. Donald looked urgently back at Goofy and Gregorio, who were now backing away from the slowly approaching Cloud. A green aura surrounded Sora for a second, and then he was recovered.

"Thanks, Donald."

"Now that you're feeling better.", Donald said, helping Sora to his feet, "We've gotta get back in there and beat these guys!"

Meanwhile, Yoris and I noticed that Barret had a glowing red circle underneath him. The circle's edges started to glow and 'spikes' seemed to stick out of the ground. Barret had his gun arm aimed ready to attack. I just knew this wasn't good and kept my guard up. Barret then suddenly ran up to Yoris, who was to my left, and punched him with his gun arm, sending the cannon user right into the arena barrier and KO'ing him as he didn't get up later. (5) Now that he was next to me, I suddenly got a panic attack and cast Thunder on Barret by impulse, sending him back. I then cast Cure on myself (and now out of energy to cast any more spells) and resumed my attack.

Meanwhile, Cloud had shoved the knight and javelin wielder away with such force that it knocked them out.

"I'm not after you.", he muttered coldly.

Sora gripped the Keyblade in his hands as Cloud came at him and Donald for a vertical swing. Both of them dodged the attack diagonally, the Keyblade wielder following up with a roll. Donald then came to my assistance against Barret as I had to rest my trigger finger for a few seconds, treating me with an Ether. Cloud lifted his weapon and turned slowly to look at Sora.

"You're going to die anyway.", he said firmly. "You might as well stand still."

"What?", Sora practically spat out. "What are you talking about?"

As Cloud swung his sword swiftly, Sora just managed to dodge by jumping out of the way. The swordsman then took the hilt of his weapon into both hands and closed his eyes. His body began to glow in an orange aura. Then, ever so slowly, emerging from behind Cloud's back, was a single black feathered wing. It emerged slowly from behind him, and then suddenly snapped open, revealing its full length. Raven black feathers floated slowly to the ground. Cloud reopened his eyes and glared maliciously at Sora.

"Stay still."

Then, without warning, Cloud charged at Sora, swinging his sword. It was done all in a second such that Sora had no time to move. One moment, Cloud's wing had emerged, and the next, he had come so close. Knowing that, as much as I wanted to help, there was nothing more I could do, Donald and I cast a barrage of Fire spells at Barret, forcing him back before he could resume attacking. The black man staggered as he made a few steps back, and then collapsed on the ground. I collapsed as well out of exhaustion, but I wasn't down for the count yet. _Give me a minute or two. Although I don't think we have that time._

During the second we took down Barret, Cloud had struck Sora and sent him spinning through the air, flying right into the arena barrier. As I fell to the floor, I heard Sora slam into the barrier headfirst, and then fell to the floor, heavily injured and unable to move. From where I lay, I saw Cloud walk slowly to Sora. After we stopped our attack and I collapsed in exhaustion, Donald just stood there, paralyzed in fear from what Cloud just did to Goofy, Gregorio, and Sora. Cloud stopped in front of the Key Bearer, standing poised with his sword in one hand. He stared down at Sora for a moment before shutting his eyes. He took in a slow even breath, opened his eyes, and slowly raised his sword into the air. I gasped in shock as I knew what he was about to do.

"W-What're you doing?", Sora weakly asked.

"Duty calls.", Cloud said.

I managed to hear the crowd gasp in shock. Phil, who watched in silence the whole time, dropped his clipboard and started to run into the arena. He was about to bark out some orders when he bumped into somebody tall and solid, dressed in a long black toga with blue fire for hair. I turned to look at him to see his eyes glimmer in excited malice. This was the guy from earlier at the entrance. Sora braced himself for the worst, closing his eyes, his entire body trembling in panic, his breathing coming in quick gasps.

"Donald…", I cried out.

The duck quickly snapped out of his trance, and came over and cast Cure on me and I was back on my feet. Just as Cloud was about to swing his sword down on Sora, I felt myself fly in a state of rage. As I saw a yellow 'marble' appear on one of my bracer's slots (which I then noticed later), as if on impulse, I decided to hurl my shield at Cloud, which spun in the air and almost knocked the sword out of his hands. As he turned to me in surprise, I already aimed my DirLuxGun at him, and fired a Charge Shot at his chest, knocking him further back. I followed up with a Blizzard and that did him in.

As the swordsman fell on one knee, I managed to see the fire on Hades' head begin to burn in rage as I calmed down. As the barrier went away, Yoris, Goofy, and Gregorio were instantly revived thanks to some unexplained magic of the tournament rules. They immediately ran to Sora and me and used Potions on us and themselves. I managed to see Hades storm off somewhere. I then decided to look at my bracers and saw the yellow 'marble'. I didn't know how it appeared there, but it seemed to be different from the others, which were colored green with symbols in them, which I only noticed now. They each had a symbol representing the spells I had and the new yellow one had a spinning shield.

Just then, I saw a giant black paw land on the ground. I immediately looked to see Cloud under it. Phil jumped backward with a loud yell of alarm. Everyone in the bleachers gasped in shock, and all eyes followed the giant paw up to its owner. There, looming over us all was a gigantic three headed black dog. All three sets of sharp yellow teeth gleamed viciously, saliva dripping from the tips of the monster dog's fangs. All three pairs of evil red eyes glared down at the fragile creatures before them maliciously. The monster then reared back and released a loud round of howls.

While my companions grabbed onto Sora and tried to help him to his feet, he and I managed to catch sight of a familiar being.

"That guy…", Sora muttered as he was carried away.

"Oh, right.", the voice was saying casually. "There was one other rule I forgot: Accidents happen."

Upon the arrival of the large dog, the audience was in a state of slight terror and they started evacuating the area. I was a little perplexed as they didn't go in an outrght panic, running in chaos. Apparently, they've been drilled in the event giant creatures invaded the Coliseum.

"Cloud!", a voice came, interruptng my thoughts.

I turned to see Barret, back on his feet, but just barely. Just after Sora was taken onto the audience platform, I decided to help Barret there, his weight bearing down on me greatly as the monster stood and roared with Cloud under it. As the two of us made it with Phil and my companions, the beast turned all its heads on us, which all grinned malevolently. Then with a loud growl, the monster lunged at us, its many teeth gnashing together. Barret morphed his arm again, ready to attack, despite how tired he was, but the rest of us were scared out of our minds. Just before it could get to any of us, something dashed forward and stopped the creature, grabbing onto the central head's mouth and holding it wide open.

When we looked to our saviour, we saw a young man somewhere in his twenties. He was dressed in golden Grecian warrior armor with a small blue cape over his shoulders. He was obviously a trained fighter, as his entire body was practically chiseled and muscular. He looked at us while he held the creature's jaw open, his short, wavy red hair spilling over his headband into his face, his blue eyes fierce.

Phil looked over at the man, his face washing over with relief. "Herc!"

The Greek warrior glanced over his shoulder at the satyr briefly. "Phil!", he yelled commandingly. "Get them out of here!"

The satyr nodded before he jumped down to the ground from atop the audience platform. We all dashed out of the arena as fast as they could, together. I motioned Barret to do the same, who grudgingly complied. As I did that, Sora looked back at the Greek warrior as he exited. He saw him thrust the monster to the side, still holding it by the teeth and practically throw the beast to the ground. Barret and I bypassed him and he followed us back to the lobby.

Part V. Cerberus, the Underworld's Guard Dog

"Whew, that was close!", Phil exclaimed as soon as we had reached the lobby safely. He leaned against the wall and took in several long breaths.

"What was that thing?", Sora asked, turning to Phil.

"That was Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld.", the satyr explained. "Hercules should be able to handle him."

Sora and I slowly turned to look back to the arena. I felt a little ashamed.

_Shame our battle against Barret and Cloud turned out like this._, I thought._ If only he had come to see us battle when we had been doing well. Quite a first impression we had made on the best hero Phil ever trained._

Phil's face suddenly took on a graven expression. "But then again, maybe not…"

Donald, Goofy, Gregorio, and Yoris looked at Phil in alarm. "What?"

The trainer stroked his goatee for a moment as he thought, and then released a long breath. "This doesn't look good." He scratched his head in frustration. "I hope Herc's okay… Wish I could go in!"

Just then, I noticed Sora take a deep breath through his nostrils and spun around to face the arena entrance. Then, clenching his hands, he moved forward, ready to step through and reenter the battle area. He took a few more steps forward, gathering courage, until he was almost on top of the entrance.

Our companions looked at Sora, their eyes wide. "Sora?"

"Kid, you're not entering the arena, are ya?", Phil called out in alarm. "This ain't just some match! This is for real!"

"I'm not afraid.", the Key Bearer said bravely. "You can decide if I'm hero material or not."

Phil looked up at Sora in concern. Then, seeing the determined glow in Sora's eyes, Phil conceded and nodded.

"Be careful, kid."

And with that, Sora entered the long, dark hallway, determined to help Hercules fight Cerberus. The rest of us exchanged glances, nodded, and then rushed to his side. Sora looked at us in surprise.

"You guys, what're you…?"

"You're not gonna go anywhere without us.", Gregorio told him.

"That's right.", Donald continued. "So if you think we're gonna let you barrel in there on your own, you're dead wrong!"

"All for one and one for all!", Goofy said.

Sora smiled. "Thanks, guys!"

"Let's hope we don't end up simply dead.", I grumbled as I conceded and joined.

Before we could enter the arena, Phil grabbed onto Sora's arm. "Before you go in there, I got two words of advice for you." He looked into Sora's face and smiled. He then pointed to the arena. "**Attack!**"

"That's one word!", Yoris retorted. "Learn your numbers!"

Just then, Barret come over to join us.

"That beast is gonna pay for what he did to Cloud!", he said as he prepared his gun arm.

The seven of us then bolted like Olympic racers, shooting down the dark hallway, our weapons appearing in our hands, or pulled out from their 'hiding places'. However, as we made our way into the area, we heard a collision against a barrier. We stopped and turned around to see Donald, right behind us. He seemed to hae been stopped by a force field of some kind (6).

"Go on without me!", Donald said. "I'll catch up!"

Just then, Cerberus, who had driven Hercules to corner who was carrying Cloud over his shoulder, perked up its ears and all of its heads turned around to look at the fresh meat. Sora swallowed hard as the beast slowly turned around so that it was facing us, saliva dribbling maliciously from the corners of its lips.

Hercules looked over at us in surprise, watching for a moment as we stood our ground at the monster's slow approach. Once he realized that we weren't about to run away, Hercules made a break for the exit, Cloud in tow. As the hero passed him, Sora and Hercules' eyes met for a moment. Sora made a confident smile. Hercules smiled back and gave Sora a thumbs-up before bolting down the exit. Just as he crossed it…and the 'barrier' holding Donald back, the wizard fell through and sumbled to the ground. He quickly got up and joined us.

"How'd you get through, Donald?", Sora asked.

"I don't know. After Hercules passed through with Cloud, the barrier just went away and I fell in." (7)

"In any case, Let's do it!"

"Right!", the rest of us chorused.

As one, Sora, Goofy, and Gregorio charged. Meanwhile, Yoris, Barret, and I prepared to open fire. As for Donald, he raised his staff to cast Thunder. Several small clouds gathered over each of Cerberus's three heads and quickly unleashed their lightning bolts on their faces. One of the heads roared as a lightning bolt stabbed it in the eye. Another tried to chomp on the clouds, while the third lowered its head and shook it, as though trying to ward the strings of electricity from its face.

Sora, Gregorio, and Goofy took this chance to attack the head. They were on the lowered head as soon as the tip of its nose touched the floor, Goofy bashing with his shield, Sora slashing and pounding on its face, and Gregorio leaping in the air to stab it. The dog heads roared in fury. Donald and Yoris then unleashed several relentless rounds of fireballs onto Cerberus' heads. Goofy backed away for a moment and then, shield over his head, launched himself into the air, smacking the underside of one of the monster's snouts. Barret just continued to shoot away at the giant dog.

One of the heads turned on Sora and opened its mouth wide. A cloud of darkness floated in the open space for a moment, and then a large, glowing pink ball of energy shot out of the void and straight at Sora. The boy backflipped behind me and the ball made contact with my shield. I fell on my back from the force of the blast. Another headed for Barret and knocked him down.

"Could you try dodging next time?", Sora asked me with a little worry as he gripped his Keyblade tight.

"Sorry, but evasiveness isn't my forte.", I apologized as I got up. "I'll try though."

As Sora charged once more, one of Cerberus's heads glared at him, growling angrily. Cerberus then began to gnash its teeth, its three heads leaning toward Sora, Gregorio, and Goofy and chomped, thankfully missing the latter's head by a hair, ignoring the rest of our assault all the while. Gregorio and Sora jumped away from the monster, the latter looking over at Goofy, his eyes wide in alarm and concern.

"Goofy! Look out!"

The captain of the guard was paralyzed in fear, dropping to his knees and trembling. One of Cerberus' heads reared back and howled before descending onto Goofy once again. Sora leapt forward, pushing Goofy out of danger.

"Sora!", Yoris cried out as Cerberus caught the Key Bearer's jacket between its teeth and raised him high into the air.

Sora began to yell in panic. After a moment, he began to pound on the dog's snout with the Keyblade, but to no avail. Cerberus held Sora fast by his jacket for a moment, and then suddenly tossed him into the air.

"Sora!", I cried out in distress. I turned to Barret, who was about to drink a Potion. As he couldn't open the bottle with one hand, he had reverted his gun arm into a metal hand. He turned as I gestured at Sora, who was about to fall right into one of Cerberus' open mouths, hoping he'd quickly assist.

Just then, I saw Sora point the Keyblade toward Cerberus, his weapon glowing orange. A fireball then came out and and hit the head's exposed tongue. As all three heads roared in pain and fury, Barret started to build up their pain by firing once more, having revitalized himself. The force of the magical explosion had moved Sora slightly to the side so that he was then hurtling toward Cerberus's backside. Sora flipped himself in the air so that he would land on his feet. As soon as Sora's sneakers touched the slick black fur on Cerberus's backside, he slipped, fell on his butt, and slipped again.

"No way!", Yoris cried out as he healed Gregorio, Goofy, and Donald with Potions. "He's riding the beast!"

Before Sora could fall off the monster dog's back, he grabbed a handful of fur with his left hand and locked his feet firmly around a part of the beast's ribcage. Cerberus howled, and reared up onto its hind legs. Sora held onto the monster he dangled from its backside, one hand on the hair. As soon as Cerberus dropped back onto all fours, the ground shook violently, knocking the rest of us onto our butts, while Sora swung himself up onto the monster's back.

"He's sure knows what he's doing.", Barret remarked as Sora started to crawl up Cerberus' back toward its heads.

"I seriously hope so.", I replied.

Meanwhile, the rest of us got up and continued to battle Cerberus from the front, Goofy having snapped back to reality. The wizard continued to unleash volleys of fireballs and lightning bolts, taking a break every now and then to take an Ether for a recharge. Yoris launched fireballs without stopping, his 'ammunition' potentially as infinite as my gun's. Goofy continued to launch himself like a rocket at the beast's heads, though getting more scared of Cerberus' many sets of large, sharp teeth. Gregorio now just stood around, healing Goofy when necessary, having lost the guts to leap at the beast over and over again. Barret continued in his barrage and so did I, casting spells on occasion. As we continued to pound on Cerberus in this manner, we saw Sora stand on top of the middle head with the Keyblade in both hands.

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy couldn't help but be surprised. The rest of us were too busy doing our thing to say anything.

As the Key Bearer tried to gain some kind of footing atop Cerberus' back, he raised the Keyblade over his head. Then, Sora drove the tip into one of the monster's necks. The corresponding head roared and howled in anguish, its eyes going wide. Sora pulled the Keyblade out with some effort, and then jumped down from its back, hitting the ground in a roll. Goofy immediately ran to Sora's side as Donald grinned, aimed at the monster's open wound. As he aimed his staff, Yoris, Barret, and I turned our weapons and opened fire.

Cerberus howled in pain from the onslaught, the middle head screeching over the other two. Then, it was like the head gone crazy. It began to gnash its teeth around, trying to take bites out of the other two. It wasn't long before all three heads were injured so much that Cerberus could no longer continue.

We all ran out of the way as the monster's eyes closed and its entire body tumbled to the floor, destroying the entire arena as it crashed. We dodged the debris until the earth stopped rumbling and the dust settled on the battleground. While the rest of us dropped to our knees, Barret just looked there, then headed back to the lobby, presumably to check on Cloud.

Goofy's entire body was shaken by tremors of fright, Yoris was tired and he closed his eyes to rest, Sora took long and deep breaths, I had my right hand rested against my chest as I felt my heart beat, Gregorio looked like he was about to empty his…you know…and Donald was slumped to the floor. He sighed, pulled out a Potion, and took a sip. He then passed the bottle to his companions, and all six of us sat peacefully for a moment, drinking in silence in light of our victory.

Part V. Tournament's End

Having successfully defeated Cerberus, all six of us stood together in a line as we faced Hercules and Phil, who felt the need to perform a ceremony in celebration. Hercules, who stood next to Phil, had his arms folded over his chest as he smiled proudly at us. He nudged the hero trainer slightly. As Phil stepped forward, he opened a scroll, held it in front of his face, and began to read the boxy lettering aloud.

"Thus, I do hereby dub thee, 'junior heroes', and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further…"

"Hey!", Donald interrupted, breaking the ceremonial atmosphere. "Whaddaya mean, 'junior heroes'?"

Phil looked over at Donald, lowering the scroll slightly so that he could see, and rolled his eyes.

"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero.", he explained.

"So, what does it take?", Yoris asked.

Hercules' smile broadened as he turned to Sora, pulled out a small certificate, and handed it to the junior hero.

"Well, that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves.", he said slowly, a cheerful tone in his voice. "Just the way that I did."

Sora looked first at the certificate, then at Hercules, and then at Phil. A grin appeared on his face and he laughed softly.

"No problem.", he said cheerily, giving the certificate to me as I stowed it safely inside my bag. "We'll start by proving ourselves in the games."

The satyr turned to Sora. "There ain't gonna be any games for a while.", he told him matter-of-factly. "Gotta clean up the mess from that last battle first."

We turned to the entrance to the arena, which was blocked once more with the chain and the 'closed' sign. We also remembered how Cerberus' body had crashed and almost completely demolished a section of the audience stands. Then, with a casual shrug of his shoulders, Sora turned on his heel and motioned to us. He smiled at Phil and Hercules.

"Okay, we'll be back.", he said as we pushed open the doors and left the lobby. (7)

As soon as the double doors had closed shut behind us, we couldn't help but notice Cloud and Barret sitting by themselves on the steps to the exit. Cloud sat with his eyes to the floor and his arms propped up on his knees. Barret stood the same way, glancing at his companion. We had heard the story about Hades from Hercules and Phil. But nobody knew much about the two people we were standing in front of right now. Well, I felt like I did, but the memory remained fuzzy. We decided to approach them slowly.

"Hey, are… you all right?", Sora asked Cloud.

Cloud looked up at Sora slowly. "Yeah." We turned to Barret, who decided not to speak, and just nudged his head towards Cloud.

"So why did you go along with him, anyway?"

Cloud looked at Sora for a while before leaning forward, clasping one hand in the other, raising them and resting his chin against them. He said nothing for a moment, then closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"I'm looking for someone.", he said softly. "Hades promised to help." We all listened intently, nodding slightly. Cloud looked back up at Sora and rose to his feet. "I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired.", Cloud continued. He then took another deep breath and looked up. "I fell into darkness, and couldn't find the light."

"You'll find it." Sora said encouragingly. He then looked away, dropping his gaze to the floor and sighed. "I'm searching, too."

"For your light?", he asked hesitantly.

Sora nodded, looking back at Cloud.

"What's your story, Barret?", Gregorio asked. "From what I've seen, you two don't seem to be from around here."

"You're right. The Heartless attacked our world. I still don't know how we survived, but when we found ourselves in a safe place, I found that Cloud was suffering from something. You could say that that was how Cloud got the darkness. Luckily, there were people in where we ended up and we were treated to. When I asked where we were, we were told that we were rescued before or world fell into darkness. I immediately asked for my friends' whereabouts and most importantly, my daughter. (9) We were told that they were being rescued, but I couldn't help but want to look for them myself. Our helpers conceded and gave us a Gummi Ship to use."

"A Gummi Ship?", Donald asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Along the way, we encountered this place. We landed to check it out, then Hades appeared. He tempted Cloud and he became how you see him right now. As Cloud was the only friend I was sure I had left, I decided to stay with him."

Barret and Cloud then stood up, nodded, and walked slowly to me and Sora respectively. While I saw Sora receive a tiny scroll, I received a green 'marble' and what looked like a spring. Not one of those that the Slinky toy is shaped like, but as it it were a part of a wind-up clock.

"I think you'll have better use of these than I do.", Barret told me.

"Don't lose sight of the light.", Cloud told Sora at that same moment.

"Another part.", Yoris muttered as we realized the two were about to head back to the Coliseum entrance. With a grin, Sora spun around and waved at Cloud.

"How about a rematch sometime?", he called. "Fair and square, no dark powers involved!"

Cloud stopped upon hearing that. Barret noticed his companion and stopped to wait. Cloud then flicked his spiky blonde hair and shrugged casually.

"I think I'll pass.", he said as the two then entered the lobby.

_I wonder why're they sticking around?_, I thought to myself._ Heh. Maybe we'll find out another time._

The six of us crossed the main gate and went back to our Gummi Ships. While Sora, Donald, and Goofy boarded the Excalibur, Gregorio telported himself, me, and Yoris back to the Destiny. Just before we left, I thought I saw another Gummi Ship parked somewhere near the gates.

Gummi Ship Time: Device

"What was that you had when we battled those 'Heartless' sets in the tournament?"

I was asking Gregorio, who was seated at Yoris' seat. Yoris himself was piloting the Gummi Ship.

"What I used scanned those 'patterns' in the event we get a simulation room for our Gummi Ship."

"We don't have any yet."

"I plan to make one. It's simpler than it sounds. I've been reading a book on customizing Gummi Ships."

"Why would you want a simulation room?"

"Well, wouldn't it be safer to practice against simulations than keep fighting the real deal all the time?"

"I see what you mean." We stared at each other for a few moments. I then yawned. "I'm going to rest now."

As I nodded off, I suddenly experienced what I experieced back at the Coliseum. I decided to call them visions, lacking any better term. This vision I had showed Hades stepping out from the dark shadows, holding a small clay statue of Hercules upright on one palm. He was making the Hercules figure smile and flex as he stared down at him.

"He's strong, he's kind.", Hades narrated, sounding like a salesman. "He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot. He's perfect. Perfect!" Then something snapped inside him. "Perfectly infuriating! He makes me crazy!"

The fire on Hades' head turned bright red-orange in rage and shot up into the air, his skin turning into lava. The Hercules figurine melted down immediately. He thrust the remnants onto the floor in a fit. Then suddenly, the fire turned back to its usual blue as Hades calmed himself down. He ran a hand over the fire on his head and took in a gulp of air.

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about?", he said to himself. "All the pieces are in place. Relax. Here's what you do. Let Hercules train the kid. In the next games, I'll take care of them both. And I better not forget that kid with the shield."

The god grinned wickedly to himself. Just then, someone appeared behind him. Realizing this, Hades glanced over his shoulder to see two people stand not much more than ten feet behind him. He narrowed his malicious yellow eyes at them. One of them was the black-and-purple robed sorceress. The other was one of those men in green samurai clothes and gun-halberds. This one seemed different however and had an air of authority.

"Who invited you to the party?", he growled. "Stay out of this. This is my show."

The tall, black clad woman narrowed her eyes at Hades, her fingers fiddling with her staff's handle. She blinked slowly, a small, malevolent smile crossing her thin, fuchsia colored lips.

"As you wish.", she said calmly. "Fight to your heart's content."

And then, a dark portal, just like the one I saw the mysterious figure back at Destiny Islands make, emerged behind the two. The sorceress and the man left through it and it closed, leaving Hades all alone.

**Philoctetes**

_Phil the satyr is a veteran trainer of heroes and Herc's mentor. These days he's very busy running the Coliseum and choosing competitors suitable for the games._

_He came out of retirement in "Hercules" (1997)._

**Cloud**

_A fighter hired by Hades to compete in the Coliseum. He and Barret escaped their world when it disappeared, although he suffered from the darkness as they did. After obtaining a Gummi Ship, they reached Olympus Coliseum, where Hades hired him with a promise to look for somebody. Who could this somebody be that Cloud is looking for?_

_"Final Fantasy VII" (1997)_

**Barret**

_Cloud's companion. He and Cloud escaped their world through unknown means, although the latter then suffered from the darkness. They obtained a Gummi Ship and made it to Olympus Coliseum. When Cloud was then hired by Hades, Barret decided to accompany him. He wishes to find his friends lost throughout the worlds with Cloud._

_"Final Fantasy VII" (1997)_

**Cerberus**

_Guardian of the entrance of the Underworld and Hades's loyal servant. Herc defeated him once, but Hades has brought him back._

_He first stood watch for Hades in "Hercules" (1997)._

**Hades**

_Lord of the Underworld. He's using the Heartless to try and take over the world. To get Hercules, and any he deems meddlers, out of the way, he sent Cloud and Barret to fight them in the Coliseum._

_He heated things up in "Hercules" (1997)._

**Hercules**

_A legendary hero with godlike strength. He's the son of the gods Zeus and Hera, but not a god himself. The people regard Hercules as a true hero._

_He went from "zero to hero" in "Hercules" (1997)._

(1) If you've seen the First District of Traverse Town, you'd know where I'm indicating.

(2) Check out TV Tropes for this term's meaning.

(3) Openings have spoilers, these two are the 'bosses' in the story, as those who read the first would know.

(4) Remember, spoilers. Except for those who played the games or read this 'series'.

(5) Barret just used "Hammer Blow", one of his Limit Breaks.

(6) This here is the start of my explanation of the six-fighter limit.

(7) For this battle, the barrier is actually a seven-fighter limit. Cloud was not counted as he was unconscious.

(8) You Kingdom Hearts gamers or walkthrough/cutscene watchers (like me) know what happened next.

(9) The ones who rescued them were from the same groups that rescued Cid, Aerith, and Yuffie; the Story Crew. If this continued to KHR2, you mght wonder why Sora forgets this. The reason I'll put is because of the memory restoration process he experiences at the end of KHR:CoM.

-See ya on Third.-


	8. Chapter 7: Deep Jungle

nightelf37: Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there (or the manga), I 'own' it.

Kep: Are you sure you have nothing more to say?

nightelf37: Yes.

Chapter 7: Deep Jungle

Part I. A Rift in the Coalition

After waking up from my last vision, I was writing on a 'letter card' I subconsciously found in my haversack. Since leaving the pair of paopus at Wonderland, I wrote letters meant to leave behind with the paopus. I was wondering why they haven't gone bad even if it was quite some time since escaping Destiny Islands, but whether it was a trait of the paopus or another feature of the haversack I couldn't guess.

Once I was done with the letters, I looked around. Yoris was at the seat next to me, and Gregorio was piloting the ship. I got up from my seat and approached Gregorio. I looked out into the cockpit and aw that we were now behind the Excalibur.

"Uhh…why are we behind Sora's Gummi Ship?"

"Somebody has to watch their backs.", Gregorio replied.

"But what about **ours**?"

"While you were sleeping, I took a few self-help lessons on Gummi Ship customization and installed rearview cams."

"Oh." Something then caught my attention. "Hey! Is that another world?"

Gregorio turned to the cockpit and indeed there was another world. It was small and round, like Wonderland. Its surface seemed to be covered in lush tropical trees. Even from our distance, waterfalls and other bodies of water could be seen.

However it seemed to be that the Excalibur was about to pass by that world instead of explore it. Gregorio though of this to be strange and decided to activate the communications screen. Through it, he saw Donald on the driver's seat, and Sora and Goofy were looking out the cockpit, perhaps staring at the world they were about to bypass.

"Hey, Donald.", Goofy said, turning to his companion. "Maybe King Mickey's down there."

The wizard scoffed. "In a backwater place like that? No way! Let's move on."

Sora leaned forward in his chair, raising his voice in protest. "Hold on, Riku and Kairi might be down there. Let's just check it out."

"Forget it!", Donald growled. "We're on an important mission!"

"Just land!", Sora yelled.

"**No!**"

"Come on!"

"Yeah!", Gregorio agreed. "We'll be looking down there!"

"Then go ahead!", Donald replied as if not interested.

"We might find hints of the King's whereabouts there and might not know a hint if we see it."

"Well, this is where we'll part ways then."

Sora jumped to his feet in rage, stomped toward Donald and leaned over the control panel. "We're landing!", he yelled forcefully, deciding on a button and pressing it.

Donald's eyes went wide. "Don't touch that! **No**!"

Suddenly, the whole ship began to shake, alarms going off and yells escaping from their throats. In the Destiny, we saw the Excalibur hurtle itself right into the world. Back at the screen, there was chaos and suddenly, we lost contact as the screen became static.

"Sora!", Gregorio yelled.

"We've gotta find them!", Yoris cried out as he got up from his seat.

"Let's go to the Transwarp Room!"

In a minute, we were there. Gregorio opened the screen, showing a view of the world. He then started typing away at the keyboard below it.

"How do we find them?", I asked

"Don't you worry!", Gregorio told me. "This room records everybody who has used this teleporter. That includes Sora, Donald and Goody."

"It's Goofy!", Yoris corrected.

"Oh, sorry." The screen opened to show Sora in a treehouse, and Donald and Goofy in a clearing among bamboo-like trees. "We'll have to split up. Yoris and I will head to Sora's location."

"And you want me to go to where Donald and Goofy are?", I asked.

"Yes. I've set up our teleporters so that we'll teleport separately. Take this just in case." After Gregorio set up the coordinates, he took another teleportation device and tossed it to me.

"Good luck to all of us."

The three of us were then teleported to our designated locations.

KHKHKHKHKH

-Gregorio and Yoris tell 'me' this part after we reunite.-

Gregorio and Yoris emerged right between Sora as he was about to wake up.

"Oww… my head…"

Sora coughed and wheezed as he recovered. He groaned and rubbed the back of his head as he got himself into a sitting position.

"Are you okay, Sora?", Yoris asked.

"What happened?", Gregorio asked.

"I think we crashed the ship. Where are we?"

The three decided to take a look around. They had landed in the middle of a large wooden house. There were only various crates, boxes, and barrels in the place. Most of the planks used to build the house had vines and other kinds of foliage between the cracks. The entire place seemed to be abandoned. The rooftop looked sturdy enough, save for the part where Sora most likely fell through.

All of the beams above were still in place. There was a second story, though the stairs leading to it were broken. There were many windows, and all of them had glass still in place, sunlight streaming through. There was a large open entrance directly in front, through which they could see a balcony and a forest canopy.

"Hey! Where are Donald and Goofy?", asked Sora.

"They seemed to have been separated from you.", said Yoris. "We sent Rael down to their location."

"Wait…", said Gregorio as he brought out his javelin. "Something's here." Yoris and Sora just looked at him. "Be on your guard." Sora summoned his Keyblade and Yoris brought out his cannon. Just then, there was a low growl. "There!"

Gregorio pointed his javelin somewhere up and all three turned to see a yellow feline creature. (1) It had with mostly yellow fur, except for the fur around its mouth, on the bottoms of his paws, on its belly, and at the tip of its tail, which are white. Its legs and head had black spots on them, while its back and shoulders sported yellow-orange markings with black outlines. The wild animal's eyes were yellow and it had six long, black whiskers, three on both sides of its upper lip.

The beast, seeing that it had been found, revealed its black claws and pounced at the three from the balcony above. Sora, Gregorio, and Yoris jumped out of the creature's way. The animal landed gracefully and spun around to glare at its prey some more, licking its chops eagerly. The three backed away, holding their weapons firmly in their hands.

"Strange.", Yoris said. "Why is she attacking the three of us? We outnumber her."

"How do you know it's a female?", Sora asked.

"I haven't a clue either how. I just seem to know."

Just then, the animal jumped forward, swinging a powerful paw at the three and sending them flying into the wall. For some reason, the attack didn't scratch their clothes or flesh, but the blow still hurt as they crashed through some of the wooden crates. As she roared victoriously, Sora and Gregorio picked themselves up, getting into a fighting stance. Yoris however, took more damage from the blow and couldn't rise.

"Careful.", Yoris warned. "She's…no…ordinary…leopard." Yoris then lost consciousness. Well, not really, but the blow was so strong he had to rest for a while.

Meanwhile, Gregorio and Sora held their weapons tight. Both were nervous, never having fought something that was neither Heartless nor human. Well, there was Hades' guard dog Cerberus, but that was a different case. This enemy was about their size, and that meant she would most probably be fast.

The leopard gazed at them, her eyes gleaming with malice. And then all at once, she lunged again, claws and teeth flaring. Sora and Gregorio immediately rolled out of the way and made a break for the other side.

The wild animal spun swiftly and faced Sora, baring her teeth. Then, gathering his courage, Sora ran straight toward the leopard. Accepting the challenge, she ran at him. As Gregorio went to tend to Yoris, the two beelined toward each other. At the last moment, Sora jumped over the animal, spinning mid-air and swinging the Keyblade as hard as he could. The leopard took a blow to the back of her neck and collapsed in a heap. As soon as Sora landed his feet firmly on the floor, he spun around and looked at the leopard's body. He relaxed as soon as he saw her lying still.

After Yoris got up thanks to a Potion given by Gregorio, they rejoined Sora and watched the beast carefully, who was holding the Keyblade loosely in his right hand. The animal lay on the floor for a long time, not moving, silent. Suddenly concerned, Sora carefully approached her, moving sideways, inch by inch. Yoris prepared his cannon just in case and Gregorio did likewise with his javelin.

Suddenly, the animal sprung back onto all fours, spun around to face Sora, and pounced with a loud roar, all in one liquid movement. Sora was caught off guard, falling back onto his bottom in surprise. Instantly, Gregorio lunged forth and pushed the leopard back with his javelin and just as Yoris was about to fire his cannon, something burst into the tree house through a large hole in the top side of the building.

It moved fast, maneuvering around the roof beams with remarkable skill and agility, and, as they realized seconds later, an actual man. He landed in front of Sora and Gregorio and blocked the animal's next advance using a long wooden spear. He then used the spear to push her forcefully backward.

The leopard was knocked back, rolling before catching herself by digging her claws into the planks. As the animal rose to her feet and looked at the newcomer, the man hissed and roared at her, sounding exactly like hers, or at least another of her kind. The leopard growled furiously leapt through a window to escape, shattering the glass as she did so.

After a moment of silence, the man turned around to face the three boys, who stared at the man in awe, dumbfounded and amazed at the same time. He seemed to be fairly tall, though he was in a crouched position at the time. He had shoulder length brown hair that fell over and into his face in thick dreadlocks. The man's body was covered in muscles and soaked in a golden brown tan. His face was drawn into a solemn stare, and his green eyes were serious and intense. The only clothing he wore was a simple brown loincloth around his waist.

The man looked at the three. "Sabor, danger.", he said gruffly.

Sora rose to his feet, looking around him nervously. "Um… Thank you."

The man's expression then turned from solemn to curious.

"Thank you.", he echoed slowly.

"Huh?" Getting more confused, Sora took a step backward, looking at the jungle man in concern.

"Uh, what is this place?", Gregorio decided to ask.

"This place, this place.", the jungle man echoed again, moving closer.

"Okaaay.", he said slowly to himself. "Man, what's with this guy?"

Sora then decided to ask the man again, raising his voice and speaking slowly. "Where did the others go? Look, I got separated from my friends. Have you seen them?"

"Do you really think he might know?", Yoris asked Sora.

"I'd rather ask and find out he doesn't than not ask and find out later that he does."

The man was only confused further. "Hmm?"

With a sigh, Sora tried again, speaking even slower. "Fuh-ren-zs…"

The man's eyes brightened suddenly. "Friends!", he repeated, a slight smile on his face.

"Right, my friends!", he yelled happily. "There's two of 'em. The loud one is Dona—" He stopped himself abruptly.

"Uhh…", Yoris began to say. "Oh right." They all remembered the incident. Donald had refused to land. The jungle man tilted his head to one side in a confused manner. Sora raised his eyes so that he could see the man.

"You know what?", he said quietly. "Never mind." Sora started over. "I'm looking for my friends, Riku and Kairi."

"Look for Riku, friends?", the jungle man echoed slowly, his voice rough.

Sora smiled and nodded. "Right!" He then shifted his weight from one leg to the other, looking over the jungle man's back. He seemed to stop as if seeing something. Yoris and Gregorio turned but saw nothing.

"Kairi, friends?", the jungle man continued.

"Uhh… right…", Sora said.

Gregorio then decided to talk to the jungle man, describing not only Riku and Kairi, but Florina and Windelle as well. After all, they were missing too.

The man stared at the three, sternly, calmly, then answered. "Friends…here."

Sora looked back at the gorilla man in an excited manner. "Really?"

"Ee ooh, oo ooh ah.", the man told him.

"Huh?" The three were confused from the gibberish he said.

The jungle man repeated himself, speaking slower. "Ee ooh, oo ooh ah. Friends, here."

"Not sure I understand, but show me!", said Sora. "Take me to Riku and Kairi!"

A smile appeared on the jungle man's face. He then gestured to himself, thumping his chest softly and nodding.

"Tarzan.", he introduced himself, saying his name slowly. His smile broadened. "Tarzan, go."

Sora blinked. Then he smiled.

"And I'm Sora.", he said gesturing to himself. "Tarzan go, Sora go go!"

The others also decided to introduce themselves.

"I am Yoris."

"And I am Gregorio. Let's-a-go!"

Tarzan smiled, motioned for the three to follow him, and led them outside. They stepped out onto the balcony and stood there for a while. Tarzan looked over at Sora as he looked around, looking at the canopy below that stretched out as far as the eye could see. The house was situated in the branches of a large tree. Beneath the house was a large net, possibly to prevent accidents. There was a small dinghy dangling on a rope from a branch in front of the house, which Yoris realized was used to bring heavy things up to the house from further below.

Tarzan tugged at Sora's sleeve gently and pointed to the ocean of green, from which the three boys could hear many different wild animal calls, echoing into the early day. He smiled, pointing excitedly out at the jungle.

"Deep Jungle," he told him. "Tarzan's home."

KHKHKHKHKH

"Gawrsh, where are we?"

Donald and Goofy ended up in a clearing among a thick growth of bamboo-like trees. They rested on a large rock overgrown with moss and other foliage. Goofy sat atop it, eyes lowered, and Donald stretched out on his side, eyes shut and head propped up by one arm.

Just then, there was a 'whimp' sound as I shortly arrived. The two jumped in surprise from my sudden arrival, then resumed their moods after a while. Goofy raised his eyes and let out a breath.

"I sure hope Sora's okay."

"Don't worry. He's fine.", I told him. "Gregorio and Yoris teleported down to his location. We'll find him."

Just then, Donald jumped into a sitting position, his hands curled up in tight fists. "Aw, who needs him?" he yelled stubbornly. "We can find the king without him." Donald bent over slightly to retrieve his staff, which he had leaned against the side of the rock. As he reached for it, his fingers touched on something with a thick coat of coarse fur. "Huh?"

The duck and I turned around to see what it was and came face to face with a gray gorilla. I was surprised from how it managed to sneak up to us. The gorilla and the duck stared at each other for a moment, eyes wide, until they both began to scream in panic, straight into each other's faces. A second after, the plants behind us rustled as something moved through them. Both Donald and Goofy turned and looked over their shoulders expectantly, while the gorilla began to flee. The gorilla paused for a moment, looking back as I watched it, and then continued on its way, dropping a red block.

Donald and Goofy turned back to see the red block was a Gummi block. We didn't get to observe it for long however, since more rustling could be heard from within the thicket. We turned back to face it and gulped in anxiety.

Out stepped a tall human man, dressed in British hunter gear. A red cravat was seen from just below the neck, sticking out fashionably from the open V of his yellow collared shirt. His boots crunched against the jungle floor as he stepped out, his shotgun held in front of him with both hands. He was tall and well built, with very chiseled features. His dark brown hair slicked back from his face. Speaking of which, he looked serious as if he felt superior to everything else. He stared down at the three of us, his moustache twitching in agitation.

Part II. The Camp

I immediately experenced another vision. This vision of mine showed a jungle man (whom Gregorio and Yoris tell me later to be Tarzan) lead Sora, Yoris, and Gregorio down from the tree house to a tunnel of tree branches and stones. He had then tossed the three one by one into a hollow tree trunk, which they slid down, screaming in wild surprise.

It wasn't long before Tarzan joined them, grinding down the slippery moss on the trunk like a skateboarder or a surfer, standing on the trunk with one leg in front of the other in a crouched position, balancing himself with his arms. He encouraged the three to give it a try, and as soon as they had figured it out, they seemed to be having the time of their lives.

_Now that's impossible._, I was thinking as 'I' was suddenly pulled by an invisible force and was now following them. Apparently, while I was experiencing these visions, not only was I 'invisible', I was practically a ghost, floating as 'I' was midair while behind Tarzan.

The four were "tree surfing" down the tree trunks, weaving through the jungle, Sora whooping with excitement the whole time. They leapt over tree branches, only to land back on track without losing any momentum.

After a long time of this activity, the four of them flew off the tip of the tree and soared through the air briefly before landing at their destination. They had landed in the middle of a campground. A large tent was set up to one side, the back of which was up against the surrounding thicket of trees. Around the tent were other canopies of canvas sheltering several fully loaded bookshelves, crates, and other objects. In one corner was a grandfather clock, which stood next to a small round table with a tea set on its surface. In the opposite corner was a long table loaded with beakers, test tubes, and all kinds of chemistry instruments. Not far from the table was a black iron stove, and close to that stood an easel with a chalkboard on it, on which was a chalk sketch of Tarzan. In the middle of the campground, sticking out of a pile of crates and boxes, was a bamboo flag pole with a small flag hanging from the top.

Tarzan landed gracefully on the ground, while Sora, Gregorio, and Yoris hit the ground in a roll. 'I', on the other hand, just floated down right next to them. As soon as the initial shock worn off, Sora burst out laughing. Tarzan hurried to Sora's side and helped the boy to his feet.

"That was awesome!", Sora said excitedly. "I mean, whoa! Ever since this whole quest thing started, I've actually been through a lot, but wow, was that just totally awesome or what? When can we do that again, huh? C'mon Tarzan, you'll let me do that again, right? Right?"

"Uhh, I'd rather not.", Yoris groaned.

Tarzan put one of his hands over Sora's mouth, silencing him. Sora's eyes widened in surprise as the jungle man then gestured to the large tent, and then slowly released his grasp on Sora. The four of them headed to the tent, pulling back the flap of canvas, and entered. 'I' followed closely behind.

The inside was very simply decorated; a few hammocks hanging here and there, several crates with piles of books on top, a simple projector standing in the center of the room with a large chair next to it. There were many lanterns on ropes dangling from the ceiling. On one side of the room was a large map of some kind of landmass, which I identifed from the shape as the continent Africa, framed and mounted on the canvas wall. On the floor lay a large gray and orange rug stretching all over the tent floor, leaving very little room for dirt and grass to stick out.

Standing beside the projector was a tall young woman with long brown hair. She was dressed simply; an off white sleeveless top with a long red skirt torn down one side so that she could move properly. She was also barefoot, although that didn't seem to be a bother. Her back was facing them as they entered the tent, so they weren't wasn't able to see much of her. Tarzan entered the tent hurriedly, hunched over with his weight on his knuckles.

"Jane!", he called out as soon as they had entered.

The young woman turned around upon hearing her name. She froze at the sound and then spun to face them. Her green eyes glittered as she saw Tarzan, her long hair swishing into her face, her fair skin turning a little pink.

"Tarzan!", she said in surprise, her voice heavy with an accent. Jane then looked at the three visitors and smiled, leaning forward, bending down slightly so that her eyes were level with Sora's. "Oh, and who is this?"

Sora smiled nervously. "Uh, hi there. I'm..."

Jane straightened slightly, raising her eyebrows. "Oh, you speak my language!" She then glanced at Tarzan. "So then, obviously you're not related to Tarzan…" Tarzan and Sora exchanged glances, blinking in mild confusion.

"Well, other than being humans, we don't seem to be related.", Yoris said.

Jane chuckled politely as she turned her attention back to the three. "Are you here to study the gorillas?"

"Study the gorillas?", Gregorio asked. "Why would we be studying gorillas?"

"Highly doubtful.", another voice came, clearly belonging to a man with an accent. Jane looked over their shoulders, straightening to her full height as everybody spun around to look at the newcomer. In walked the man Donald, Goofy and I encountered. Following close behind were Donald Goofy and me, the latter in a trance. As soon as 'I' saw myself, my perspective shifted back to the real me as I woke up from my trance with a start.

"Sora!", Goofy yelled the second he saw him, jumping excitedly.

The Key Bearer ran to them immediately. "Goofy! Donald!"

Sora and Donald were just about ready to hug each other when they remembered the incident back at the ship. They immediately turned away from each other, folding their arms over their chests and throwing their heads back. They stomped one foot on the ground as they did so, tapping their fingers on their arms impatiently.

"Uh oh.", Yoris groaned.

Meanwhile, the hunter scoffed, turning on his heel and exiting the tent. "A circus of clowns.", he told Jane gruffly. "Not much use for hunting gorillas."

Jane put her hands on her hips angrily. "Mr. Clayton.", she said forcefully. "we're **studying** them, not hunting them. This is research."

Clayton glanced over his shoulder, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, and continued to walk away. Jane straightened, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Then, after a moment, she turned back to Sora and the others with a smile.

"Well, the more the merrier.", she said lightly. "Do make yourselves at home."

Jane then moved to one of the hammocks, picking up her sketchbook and beginning to draw. Tarzan eyed Jane, and then hesitantly moved toward her, peering over her shoulder as she worked quietly. I watched them for a moment, and then turned back to Donald and Sora, who were arguing in silence. My eyes wandered from Sora to Donald, then back to Sora. So did Yoris, Goofy, and Gregorio.

"Well, anyway—", Sora began stubbornly.

"I'm staying." The words had come from both Sora and Donald at the same time.

Sora spun around in surprise, dropping his arms. "Huh?"

Suddenly, Goofy grinned and pulled out the Gummi block that we found earlier. He cupped it in both hands and showed it to Sora so that he could see it.

"Sora, look what we found." he said with a chuckle.

The Gummi block glittered bright red as Sora peered at it. It wasn't a perfect cube. It was cut at strange angles, as though knocked out of position. It wasn't in a beautiful shape like the one back at Wonderland.

"So that means…"

"The king could be here.", Donald finished gruffly. He then looked over at Sora from over his shoulder, his arms still crossed angrily. "So, we've gotta work together to look for him." The duck narrowed his eyes. "For now."

Sora narrowed his eyes back at Donald. "Fine. I'll let you tag along. For now."

"Once we're through with what we have to do here, you can tag along with your island friends on looking for parts of whatever they were tasked to look for.", Donald finished, referring to Yoris, Gregorio, and me.

I turned to Tarzan, who wandered over to Jane and was watching her as she drew. He was pointing at her sketchbook and smiling, communicating with her with broken English and a variety of grunting noises. Jane merely laughed happily at him and as Tarzan constantly approached, Jane's face got increasingly redder.

"No respect for personal boundaries?", Sora asked Jane with a chuckle. I then noticed him looking as well.

She laughed lightly. "You've noticed it, too?"

Tarzan then turned to Sora. His face suddenly went serious and he pointed at him, nudging Jane to pay attention.

"Jane!", he told her urgently. "Sora, look for friends."

He then grunted and gestured for a moment before backing away from Jane and hurrying to Sora, circling him, and then pushed him forward slightly, urging him onward. Sora looked confused.

He looked at Jane, a lopsided smile on his face. "Uh… help?"

Jane smiled as she rose from her hammock and walked toward us slowly. "Apparently Tarzan was raised in the jungle by the gorillas.", she explained. "Communicating with him still isn't easy, but he's learning."

"So he was speaking in 'gorilla' back there…", mused Yoris.

"Ah, that's right.", Jane said with a nod of her head. "So you're looking for your friends?"

"He said Riku and Kairi are here.", said Sora. "And one word I couldn't understand…"

"Why don't we try this?", Jane suggested, gesturing toward the slide projector. "We'll show Tarzan some slides and see if any of them match that word."

She walked over to the projector to switch it on, putting one hand on top of it. Her eyes widened as she reached for the slides in alarm.

"What happened to the slides?", she wondered aloud. She then straightened with a sigh. "Oh dear, they must be scattered around the camp."

"We'll look for 'em.", Sora offered. He then looked to us, particularly Donald. "Won't we, guys?"

"Of course.", Gregorio agreed. "After all, we might find a 'part' along the way." He turned to the magician. "Not that Donald needs to help though."

Donald scoffed, beak pointed up. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Oh, why thank you.", Jane said with a confused, polite smile. "They should be around. There are about six of them in total."

The seven of us (Sora, me, Goofy, Yoris, Gregorio, Tarzan, and Donald) got to work on looking for the projector slides. Luckily, we didn't have to look further than the campground in the event that any local fauna might've found them as interesting items and took them. The search did, however, require a lot of climbing on top of crates and other miscellaneous furniture, and even getting a monkey's eye view from the treetops, although I didn't do any tree climbing. Clayton watched us the whole time, taking sips from his cup of tea.

The first slide lay on the ground next to the easel with the chalkboard. Two were on top of a set of crates with a small globe. I immediately knew that this was a representation of my world, Earth. Apparently, this world (Deep Jungle) seems to be 'based' on my own, but obviously an 'alternate' one.

_But that doesn't answer one vital question._, I thought._ How did I arrive at Destiny Islands from that dream I had? And why do I keep seeing things I know I should know, yet seem to have my memories of them fuzzy?_

"Something wrong?", Yoris asked, interrupting my thoughts.

I shook my head and said, "Oh, nothing. I'm fine."

The fourth slide was found in the second drawer of a green dresser standing in the shelter of the canvas half-tents. The fifth was at the top of a pile of crates and boxes Gregorio had climbed. Tarzan collected the last one off the top of the main tent. Sora took all the slides in his hands and counted six. Along the way, we found some research notes for an experiment that involved a Potion, icing it, and a replication process. (3) Yoris thought it'd be fun to test it out and as he did that, taking Donald with him for the 'icing'. The result was two Ethers, which would prove to be useful.

After the litttle experiment, we re-entered the tent and handed the slides to Jane. The researcher smiled and thanked us before turning the projector on and inserting the slides one by one. The images were cast onto a blank canvas wall in front of the projector.

The first slide showed an image of stars in the night sky. The next slide had a picture of an old woman crouched on the floor, raising a young baby in the air before her. The third apparently depicted two fencers, ready to duel.

The fourth was of an unusual castle. Its towers stretched high, the entire building looked giving off a majestic, almost magical feeling. It seemed to be perched on top of a cliff, surrounded by a sea of pine forests, mist and fog. As I raised an eyebrow, thinking the castle looked a bit…asymmetrical, I saw Sora make a small gasp. I immediately noticed.

"What's wrong, Sora?", I asked.

"What?", He snapped out of his funk and glanced back at me. "Um… nothing." He then looked back at the image, tilting his head curiously to one side.

The slideshow continued, with two more images; one of a fully grown silverback gorilla (to which Tarzan responded with a brightened face) and another of a classy man dressed in a suit down on one knee, extending a bouquet of flowers to an equally classy woman in a beautiful dress and petticoat standing next to him. As soon as the slides were finished, Jane switched off the projector and turned to Tarzan.

"Well, Tarzan?"

Tarzan looked at Jane, then at the projector, and then at the canvas wall. We all turned to Tarzan expectantly. Sora bit down on his lower lip, taking a step closer.

"Where are my friends, Riku and Kairi?", he prompted, speaking slowly.

Tarzan man looked over at Sora, then dropped his gaze and shook his head slowly from side to side.

"Hey, I thought—"

"I believe Tarzan didn't understand you entirely, Sora.", Gregorio theorized.

"That leaves just one place.", a voice came.

We turned to the entrance and saw Clayton as he strode slowly over toward us, his head held high in the air.

"Young man, we've been in this jungle for some time now. But we have yet to encounter these friends of yours. I'd wager they're with the gorillas. But Tarzan refuses to take us to them."

Jane sighed, exasperated. "Really, Mr. Clayton. Tarzan wouldn't hide—"

"Then take us there!", Clayton demanded, turning to Tarzan and bringing his face close to the jungle man's. "Take us to the gorillas."

Clayton then said slowly, clearly, to try to force Tarzan to understand, "Go-ril-las!"

He didn't even flinch as Clayton practically spat and screamed into Tarzan's face. Then, slowly, he turned to Sora. The Key Bearer had his head lowered, his blue eyes to the floor. As he released a long breath, Tarzan then nodded his head in agreement. Jane's jaw dropped in surprise.

"Tarzan.", she said softly. "Are you sure?"

Sora looked up in surprise. Goofy smiled, glancing toward Donald, who just folded his arms over his chest and raised his head snobbishly.

"Tarzan go see Kerchak.", he told Jane sternly, turning his intense gaze onto her.

"Kerchak?", she echoed.

"He must be the leader.", Clayton said with a shrug of his broad shoulders. "Perfect! I'll go along as an escort. After all, the jungle is a dangerous place."

Sora grinned excitedly and thanked Tarzan, putting his hands on Tarzan's shoulders and speaking to him so quickly that the jungle man began to feel dizzy. Goofy had to pull Sora away, turning Sora's attention to him. I groaned, feeling nervous about this trip.

Part III. Traversing the Jungle

We were just about to leave the tent when there came something. Something yellow. Something feline. Something Sora, Gregorio, Yoris, and Tarzan know. Sabor.

"Crud! Not her again!", Yoris complained.

"Her?", Goofy asked.

"Whatever it is, let's go get 'em!", Donald said as he charged out of the tent. Goofy followed and so did I. Before Sora could join us, a barrier seemed to block everyone else out.

"What on earth?", Jane asked as Sora bumped into the barrier.

"What in blazes?", Clayton swore at about the same time.

By this time, Donald and Goofy were already fighting the leopard as she pounced around, scratched, and other stuff. I, on the other hand, didn't participate because of three reasons. One, I felt I wouldn't be able to do much help. Two, Sabor's not a Heartless and ending a living being's life doesn't go well for me. And three, I was scared out of my mind and all I could do was defend and heal and hope she doesn't go for me. Luckily, the battle was short and Sabor fled. The barrier then disappeared and everyone else came over.

"What was that?", Jane asked.

"To be honest, we have no clue whatsoever.", Gregorio said. "Although I don't think that phenomenon can be researched. You just focus on learning about gorillas."

KHKHKHKHKH

Setting the recent episode aside, we were led deeper into the jungle by Tarzan, who walked crouched over like a gorilla, supporting his weight on his knuckles. Jane stayed behind at the camp. We followed him closely, me particularly as I hate getting lost, especially in the jungle. Clayton brought up the rear, his hands glued to his shotgun at all times. We walked mostly in silence, the only 'parts' of noise being from Tarzan's instructional phrases or grunts and Goofy's failed attempts at getting Sora and Donald to talk to each other again.

Thinking it was almost too quiet, Yoris decided to ask Donald a question, though only discreetly.

"Don't you think you and Goofy look…strange?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, a walking and talking duck and dog who wear clothes don't exactly count as normal back at the islands. I think it also applies any world with humans as the only species with a civilization and technology."

"Don't worry. No one native here sees us as you see us. Our clothes are magical and disguise our true forms to 'world natives' only."

"So only Gregorio, Sora, Rael, myself, and any other non-world natives see you and Goofy as what you really are?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

By the time they were done, we had ended up at a small lagoon. There were several deep pools of water, in which hippos could be found bathing. The entire area was surrounded by moss-covered trees and vines. There were plenty of thin trees growing right out of the water, providing a small amount of shade from the sunlight.

"Whoa…", Donald's eyes grew wide, his beak dropped wide open.

Goofy looked out over the waters and sighed contentedly. "This place is beautiful…"

As we stood in awe, gaping at the lagoon, Tarzan examined a growth of ivy found on one of the trees. He dug his hands into and climbed it a little ways upward, then climbed back down. He peered up into the canopy, trying to see where it led. Then, with a firm nod, Tarzan turned to Sora.

"Sora.", he called firmly.

Turning away from the lagoon, Sora moved toward Tarzan. The jungle man immediately pointed at the growth of ivy and gestured to the treetop, making climbing movements with his hands and pointing to the canopy. Sora's jaw dropped.

"Y'mean, we gotta climb up this tree?", he asked in disbelief.

We all spun around to look at Tarzan and Sora. Tarzan merely nodded and smiled, and then offered to give Sora a boost. Sora stared at the ivy for a moment before taking a deep breath and climbing on. He dug his hands into the plant, giving it a hard tug. He then swung himself up onto it, finding holds for his hands and feet, and climbed.

Sora looked over his shoulder, down to where we all remained. He shuddered slightly upon how high he had climbed. Then, taking a deep, calming breath, he called out.

"It's okay, guys!", he assured them. He swallowed hard. "Just… don't look down!"

Donald nodded and looked over at his companion. "Okay. Let's go, Goofy."

The captain wrung his hands and looked at Donald sadly. "Do we have to?"

Donald whacked Goofy on the back of his head and pushed Goofy onto the ivy, and then climbed on himself, with Tarzan's help. Gregorio and Yoris followed, but I needed Tarzan's assistance as my grip wasn't good. Once I made it to the top, Tarzan soon followed.

The growth of ivy conveniently led us into the jungle canopy. Vines dangled from every part of it, which swayed and moved in the breeze. Peering over the edge of the thick tree branch from which we stood, the ground was so far below that we could barely even catch sight of it. I was scared out of my wits, being acrophobic, and so was Goofy. And what Tarzan was about to tell us didn't help at all.

From here, Tarzan explained (as best as he could as he wasn't fluent in our language) that we were gonna have to use the vines to get around; a simple matter of swinging on the vines and jumping from one vine to the next. While Sora had managed to get himself eager and willing, it took a whole other set of arguments to convince Goofy. Gregorio and Yoris were willing as well, but there was no convincing me to do it, as my grip wasn't good. However, seeing there was no other way, I decided to compromise by taking out the 'scooter' Quistis gave me back at Traverse Town.

I pushed a few buttons, and then the scooter hovered in the air. I tested it around and I saw that it practically flew. Giving a thumbs-up, I followed everyone else as they swung from vine to vine, although I remained nervous from the fact that I was basically who knows how many feet in the air. Even though I knew my shoes would protect me from the fall, I didn't want to take any avoidable risks.

Donald had forced Goofy into a different mindset by keeping him so scared that the captain of the guard didn't know he was actually swinging. In any case, we all crossed the canopy and reached Tarzan's destination. As soon as we had arrived safely, Sora looked around in concern.

"Hey, where'd Clayton go?"

We looked around as well. When no trace of the British man was found, we all shrugged our shoulders.

"Maybe he went back?", Goofy offered with a scratch of his head.

As Sora was about to respond, Tarzan shushed us, placing his hand over Sora's mouth. His green eyes were locked onto two large figures that were perched on a large tree branch just above, looking down at us expectantly. Two gorillas; one distinctly male and the other female. I figured the male must've been the leader, judging by the silver patch of hair on his back. The female was brown in color, with softer features on her face, making her seem almost motherly.

"Kerchak…"

Tarzan moved forward, releasing Sora, crouched over low to the floor. The large silverback gorilla glared angrily at him as he approached.

Sora's eyes went wide. "That's Kerchak?", he said quietly in disbelief.

The gorilla immediately cast a death glare at us and Sora and I withdrew. Kerchak's gaze immediately became malicious as he then turned back to Tarzan with an angry grunt, making a motion to leave. Tarzan's eyes went wide as he moved forward. Just then, I heard a strange sound. Nobody else seemed to react, but before I could inquire with them, I then heard Tarzan speak.

"Kerchak, please listen to me!", he pleaded.

_Wait…_, Ithought. _That was almost perfect English!_

The gorilla leader narrowed his eyes at Tarzan. "I told you to stay away from the strangers!", he roared in rage. "I said not to let them see you and not to seek them out!"

_What?_, I mentally gasped. _The gorilla speaks too?_

The female turned to the silverback. "Kerchak…"

"Don't try to defend him, Kala!", he roared, turning his attention on the female.

"Just listen to him, Kerchak.", she said gently, shrinking back slightly.

Her expression was grave, her eyes glimmering in sympathy. Only then did Kerchak concede, sighing before turning his gaze onto Tarzan.

Tarzan took in a deep breath before speaking. "I know the nesting grounds are secret, but I…" He took in another breath, closing his eyes for a moment. He glanced over his shoulder to look at us. "I trust them." He then looked back at the other gorillas, his voice softer, humbler. "You see, I want to help them, because… because… well, they need us."

Kala turned to Kerchak expectantly, continuing to plead with him silently. The silverback continued to stare at Tarzan, who lowered his eyes in submission. The ensuing silence seemed almost unbearable. After a moment of the tense, awkward quiet, Goofy leaned toward Donald.

"Uhh, did you get that?", he asked quietly.

Donald rolled his eyes. "No."

"You didn't understand?", I asked.

"I didn't understand a thing.", said Sora.

I immediately turned to Gregorio, thinking he probably put a device of some kind on me. He sighed, as if knowing I knew what he knew. He then mouthed "Later."

Tarzan stepped forward, raising his eyes, still pleading. "Kerchak!"

The gorilla stared at Tarzan solemnly and gravely. Then, after a brief moment, he turned away as if something else came to his attention. His nostrils flared slightly as he looked up toward a different part of the canopy. Then he simply turned and lumbered away silently.

"Kerchak…"

Tarzan then turned to Kala, who could only give Tarzan a long, sympathetic look. She closed her eyes and began to follow Kerchak. The jungle man sighed, closing his eyes, clearly emotionally crushed. Goofy looked over at Donald, leaning toward him again and whispering into his ear.

"He seemed sorta distracted by something.", he whispered.

Donald nodded. "Was he looking toward the tree house?"

In all of a sudden, Tarzan looked up, his eyes wide, his nostrils flaring. "Clayton."

"Clayton?", Sora echoed, confused. "What about him?"

Without another word, Tarzan bounded off, taking off through the trees, climbing up the tree trunks as fast as he could.

"Tarzan! Tarzan, wait up!"

We quickly pursued Tarzan the best we could, climbing trees swinging across vines, and leaping from tree branch to tree branch. I hovered with them on my scooter. However, I still had to climb, stowing my scooter away whenever I had to do that. Luckily, Gregorio and Goofy stopped to help me up. Eventually, Tarzan came into view, though still far ahead.

"Where do you think he's going?", Sora shouted as he slid down a tree trunk.

"The big gorilla was looking toward the tree house.", said Donald. "Maybe he went there."

"He mentioned Clayton, too.", Goofy offered as we continued to race after Tarzan.

Sora's eyes went wide. "You don't think… Would Clayton...?"

"I think it's clear he's out hunting.", Yoris said as we crossed vines.

"Then let's go!", Gregorio finished as we all picked up the pace.

Part IV. Clayton Goes Missing

After a short while, we made our way back to the treehouse. I stil don't remember how we got there, but we made it. Somewhere at the balcony, we saw Clayton aiming at something inside. Thinking fast, Donald sprinted right for the British man and shouted out loud what he called his classic duck scream. Clayton jumped back and fell onto his rear as he squeezed the trigger.

As we quickly followed, we saw the shot blast at the floorboards not three feet away from a gorilla, who was playing with a globe. A second later, I saw that it was the gorilla Donald, Goofy, and I encountered back at the clearing. This gorilla jumped from its place, stumbling backward before jumping onto the broken steps and climbing up them to the second story. Clayton ran a hand through his hair, his eyes wide as he looked up to see us looming angrily above him.

"What's the big idea?", Donald roared, jumping hysterically into the air. He then panted for breath, before we all turned to Tarzan. As Goofy turned his eyes from Clayton to Donald and back to Clayton, Sora and I followed Tarzan's gaze to the balcony, where the gorilla had leapt up to. The jungle man moved forward, stepping deeper into the tree house, watching the gorilla as it retreated. He opened his mouth slightly, his eyes widening in recognition. Just then, that noise from back at the canopy where we first saw Kerchak came again.

"Terk?", I heard him say.

The gorilla returned Tarzan's gaze, and as it was about to make its escape, it bumped into the large, lumbering frame of Kerchak. Its eyes went wide in horror, and the gorilla shrank slightly before him.

"Uh oh.", Yoris grumbled. "Looks like she's in big trouble."

"How do you know that gorilla is a girl?", Gregorio asked.

"I haven't a clue either how. I just seem to know."

"You just said that last time concerning Sabor."

"I know."

Tarzan's breath caught at the sight of Kerchak. The silverback glared first at Clayton, then at Tarzan. He grunted angrily, gestured to Terk, and turned to leave. Just then, I heard that strange sound again.

"Wait, Kerchak!", Tarzan pleaded. "Please!"

The silverback turned, his eyes locked on Tarzan. His face hardened in rage. "I asked you to protect our family. And you betrayed us all."

He then turned and lumbered away, taking his leave. Terk looked back down at Tarzan, and then turned her attention to us as we looked up at the gorillas with solemn, sympathetic expressions. Donald watched her sadly as he took in a deep breath. Terk returned Donald's gaze for a moment before turning around slowly and following the leader.

"Hm?", Gregorio grunted as he saw Donald look the way he did. He then turned that thought aside as we all hardened our stares at Clayton, Sora folding his arms over his chest and Donald clenching his fists at his sides. But Tarzan's gaze bore the most anger out of any one of us. Clayton looked at everyone's faces, his eyes wide in panic.

"You don't understand.", he told them defensively. "I was only trying to…" He searched frantically for something to say. "Ah, a snake slithered by, you see." The words practically stumbled over themselves clumsily. "I saved that poor gorilla's life!"

Tarzan just glared at Clayton, taking in a few deep, slow breaths before finally shutting his eyes and turning away. He shook his head slowly and hung his head in disappointment.

"You really think we'd believe that story?", Gregorio said. "You can't scare off or kill a snake with a shotgun. And really, alerting the gorilla of your presence would do just as well."

Some of us then restrained Clayton, still allowing him to hold his shotgun, and we all made our way down the treehouse the long way. As we went, we had another encounter with Sabor, but Tarzan, Goofy, and Sora quickly repelled her.

KHKHKHKHKH

"How could you do such a thing?"

We had returned to the tent and had explained what happened in the tree house to Jane. The young researcher was beside herself with rage, her eyes burning angrily as she turned on Clayton, yelling at him, her words clear as crystal, every syllable shaking in wrath.

"Now, Ms. Porter, as I told you, I was not aiming at the gorilla.", Clayton said in defense.

Jane clearly didn't believe a single word as she stepped up to Clayton, pushing her face into his, pointing one finger at him. "You are not to go near the gorillas again!"

The hunter was taken aback somewhat and he laughed nervously. "All because of one mishap?", Clayton asked, chuckling slightly. "Come now…"

"If I remember correctly what I was told, you were hired to protect Jane.", stated Gregorio. "Clearly, you weren't doing your job. And I can tell from your eyes and face that you're clearly lying. Just to be safe, you should probably do as she says."

Clayton looked at all of us. Jane stood with her hands on her hips, lips pressed together, and taking deep breaths through her nostrils. Sora folded his arms over his chest as Tarzan turned around to glare at Clayton over his shoulder. Donald was tapping one webbed foot on the floor. Yoris and Gregorio were in the same pose as Sora's. Goofy and I however, just stood there, seemingly not joining our friends in angry stares, but clearly not sympathizing for Clayton.

Realizing he was outnumbered, the hunter slowly backed out of the tent, chuckling nervously. He turned around as he reached the doorway and threw the flap of canvas out of his way viciously.

Yoris then turned to Jane and asked, "Not to say we're wrong, but why did you believe us more than you did Clayton? You've known him for longer than any of us or Tarzan."

"Well, he's always been a shifty fellow. For Tarzan…well…I…"

"Okay.", Yoris cut in, thinking he already knew the answer. "But what of us? Sure, we might look more trustworthy than that hunter, but—"

Just then, we were interrupted by a gunshot that echoed loudly throughout the jungle. Jane jumped slightly at the loud noise. Sora's eyes widened as he looked over at the others.

"What was that?"

Tarzan's eyes lowered slightly. "Clayton."

Jane smiled slightly at Tarzan, her face softening. "Yes, Clayton.", she confirmed. "It sounded like he shot at something." Her face took on a thoughtful glaze. "But what?"

Donald grunted. "Who cares? That guy gets what he deserves."

"Oh, don't mind Mr. Clayton," Jane told Donald. "He's not a bad person. Just a bit impetuous."

"Impetuous is right!", Donald said with a scoff, folding his arms over his chest. "Never met a guy more impetuous in my life!"

I felt curious and decided to look outside. Sora and Taran had the same idea, but when I pulled back the flap of canvas that served as the door, there was nobody in sight. The three of us exchanged glances.

Goofy looked over at Jane, raising his hand to ask a question. "Uhh, what's 'impetuous' mean?"

Jane looked at Goofy and smiled. "If someone is impetuous, then that means that that person acts hastily or rashly, or with sudden feeling." She placed one hand under her chin thoughtfully. "Abruptly and passionately, I suppose one could say."

"Oh!", Goofy exclaimed. "Y'mean like Donald?"

The duck turned to look at Goofy, eyes wide in anger and disbelief. "I am **not** impetuous!"

"Keep tellin' yourself that, Donald.", Gregorio said. Donald turned red with rage.

"Either way, we should probably go look for Clayton.", Sora suggested.

"He's not outside?", Jane asked.

"Well, he's outside. Just…not where we can see him." He cast a meaningful look toward the rest of us. "And things being…the way they are…"

Almost immediately, we understood, including Goofy as we all looked out into the clearing. It had really been completely deserted. Jane frowned slightly.

"How do you mean?", she asked us.

She looked to Tarzan for an answer, who merely returned Jane's gaze. The jungle man looked over at us with an acknowledging nod and grunt.

"Let's go."

Jane watched helplessly as we exited the tent without a word to her. As soon as we all stepped outside, slight chills began to run up our spines. Something was seriously wrong. Tarzan especially felt the strange new tension. The usual jungle atmosphere had been interrupted by something. Something powerful. Just then, a noise we were all, save for Tarzan, familiar with resounded and Heartless began to appear.

"Heartless!", I gasped.

Not far from our curent position was a group of Shadow Heartless, crouched low to the floor and staring at the us with yellow eyes. Sora clenched his fists at his sides and willed the Keyblade into the grip of his right hand, then got into a fighting stance. Both Donald and Goofy did the same. Gregorio, Yoris, and I followed suit. Within moments, we all charged headlong into battle, swinging our weapons viciously, slicing or shooting down the shadows expertly.

We didn't realize it at first, but Tarzan had joined the fray as well. Pulling together a crude spear with a sharpened rock, some rope, and a wooden pole, Tarzan jumped in. He swung and jabbed the spear into the bodies of the Heartless and essentially defeated them with only one or two hits. When I found the chance to, I watched Tarzan as he fought his way through the Heartless that. He battled as viciously and gracefully as a jungle cat.

Once the last Heartless was disposed of, Sora exclaimed, "Tarzan, you're awesome!"

Tarzan tilted his head slightly to one side. "Awe… some…?"

"Oh, uh, 'awesome' means—"

"This ain't no time for that!", Yoris cut in.

"He's right.", agreed Goofy. "We've gotta find Clayton!"

"Oh yeah.", Sora gasped. "If there are Heartless around, then he could be in real trouble!"

Tarzan then moved forward, raising his nose slightly in the air and taking a deep whiff, trying to pick up a scent. He then turned to us with a slight grunt and pointed to the bamboo thicket.

"This way. Follow me."

The jungle man took the lead, bounding toward the place on all fours like a gorilla, the rest of us following closely behind him.

Part V. Sabor Strikes Again

We moved through an open path within the growth of bamboo, which was clearly sliced through. Sora narrowed his eyes at the short stumps of bamboo that remained.

"Looks like Clayton was here.", he said.

Tarzan glanced at the stumps and frowned. "Yes."

After about a third of an hour of navigating through the thicket, we came out into a familiar clearing. The area was surrounded by bamboo, a large stone placed in the middle by itself.

"Hey!", I said. "This is where Donald and Goofy ended up after the crash."

"And look at this!", Donald said in surprise, moving to the stone.

The duck pointed at something on the rock. It was a large curved wooden pipe. The duck picked the pipe up and showed it to Sora and Tarzan, his eyes wide in alarm. Putting his spear down, Tarzan took the pipe into his hands and inspected it, running his fingertips over its surface and smelling it.

"Clayton."

"So he was here!", Gregorio exclaimed. "But then… where is he now?"

"Well, he couldn't have gotten too far.", said Donald, folding his arms over his chest.

Just then, a loud ruckus came from deeper into the jungle, opposite the direction we just came from. We turned to see what was happening and saw a young black and gray gorilla bounding toward us. As soon as it caught sight of Tarzan, its yelling became less frantic and more direct as (I presumed) it called out Tarzan's name in gorilla.

Tarzan's eyebrows came together and a group of monkey-like Heartless bounded swiftly toward us, leaping off of rocks and poles of bamboo. They were constantly looking about us warily, their large glowing eyes darting about wildly, and jumping from one foot to the other. They leapt from the treetops and landed several feet away from Tarzan. The Heartless looked at us, and then charged.

We immediately armed ourselves, using our respective weapons to block the attack. The gorilla began to shriek wildly, pounding its fists on the floor as the battle began. The eyes of the numerous Heartless gleamed as they took furious swings with their massive monkey-like paws, the sharp nails serving as weapons. Tarzan knocked the Heartless away from him with a sharp push on his spear. Gregorio seemed to be watching intently, trying to learn as much as he could from Tarzan as he implemented the jungle man's maneuvers with his own weapon, which were essentially the same.

Goofy used his shield to cover for Donald as the wizard furiously cast a Thunder spell on the wild monkey-like Heartless. I did likewise with Yoris as we shot them down. The latter attacked relentlessly once he realized his fireballs somehow didn't burn the local flora.

Sora, on the other hand, struggled against the Heartless that had leapt at him. While he was able to deal a fair amount of damage to the first wave that had attacked him, the Heartless were quick to surround and gang up on him. Some took hold of his ankles while another jumped at him and knocked him to the ground. Fortunately for him, Sora was able to stop that Heartless from hurting him with the Keyblade. He kicked his legs in an attempt to shake away the other Heartless while trying to throw the one on top of him away.

"Hey!", he shouted to the others. "I could use a little help here!"

The gorilla yelled loudly, its voice reaching greater volume than Sora's, drawing the attention of all towards it. It gestured at Sora as soon as Tarzan responded to its call. Tarzan threw one of the Heartless to the floor and began to head toward Sora when the gorilla screeched once again. As he looked, several Heartless were jumping toward it. Without another moment's thought, Tarzan hurried to protect his gorilla companion.

Meanwhile, Sora continued to struggle against the Heartless that pinned him to the floor. He managed to kick some of them away, but they always came back to continue. Not to mention the Heartless on top of him that he was still fending off with his Keyblade. Sora gritted his teeth as one set of claws almost managed to scratch across his cheek.

"**Guys!**", he cried out.

Donald, his back covered by Gregorio, shot a glance in Sora's direction and was about to blast the Heartless off of him with a Fire spell when he stubbornly changed his mind and took down the Heartless Gregorio was fending off.

"Hey!", the 'lancer' said. "I got that one covered!"

I, on the other hand, came to Sora's aid and shot away at the Heartless on him. The Keyblade was our best hope against the Heartless and there was no way I was gonna let them take Sora's Heart. Tarzan bounded to Sora's side as soon as Goofy and Yoris came in to cover the gorilla for him and immediately slashed at the last of the Heartless that had pounced on Sora.

"Sora, are you okay?", I asked him as I helped him to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm good.", Sora assured me, narrowing his eyes as he turned his gaze on Donald. "No thanks to him."

"He's fine.", said Donald hotly, without so much as a backward glance.

"Thanks to me.", I retorted. "And Tarzan."

Sora gripped his Keyblade tighter as he charged viciously at one of what the Diary would later identify as Powerwilds. Donald did the same. With their rage and aggression powering the battle, the remaining Heartless were quickly defeated. Even if the rest of us hadn't extended any help, the two of them would've been enough to finish the monsters off. As he observed them, Yoris realized that they were competing; who could finish off more of the Heartless fastest. We all realized the same thing. When Sora's Keyblade sliced through the body of the last Powerwild, Donald folded his arms over his chest with a loud, stubborn, "harumph!"

For a moment, Sora looked over at his companion with a grin, but quickly narrowed his eyes in hostility.

"Are you both okay?", Goofy asked them. "No scratches or nothing?"

His companions didn't even bother to answer. They stood in stubborn, tense silence, not facing each other. Goofy sighed with exasperation.

_This is getting hopeless._, I thought to myself. _At this rate, we'll be parting ways with Donald and Goofy._

Meanwhile, Tarzan moved toward the gorilla and began to 'speak' with it in low, calm tones. Eventually, the gorilla handed something to Tarzan and bid farewell. Tarzan peered at the object curiously before moving back to rejoin us as we stood together in perfect silence. I looked over at Tarzan as he approached, his eyes widening when he saw what looked like a screw in Tarzan's grip.

"Hey! Another part.", I said as I turned to Tarzan. "Where did you get this?"

Tarzan looked confused for a moment. "The gorilla. She thanks you."

I glanced at the direction gorilla ran off to and smiled slightly. I then looked at Clayton's pipe, which fell to the floor when the Heartless attacked and was miraculously not destroyed during the fight. I picked it up and examined it again before tucking it away.

"Come on guys, we gotta go find Clayton.", Sora declared.

We all looked over at Sora, somewhat surprised that he had taken charge. Goofy and Tarzan nodded at each other in agreement and followed him. Gregorio, Yoris, and I followed as well. Donald watched us for a moment as we left and then, making a face, hesitantly followed.

KHKHKHKHKH

As we headed deeper into the jungle, our surroundings grew narrower by the minute, engulfing us in the tangled mesh of trees and moss-covered stones. The trees began to loom over us, vines dangling from their branches. The trunks were much thicker, their surface covered with moss and various flora. By the time, it was noon in Deep Jungle, and shadows were cast through the canopy of all the tree leaves directly above. The floor was so covered in various vegetation that hardly any dirt could be seen through their thick growth.

The silence that had blanketed over us had evidently been slowly eating at Goofy's mind. He was constantly looking at Sora and Donald, and alternating between the two. As time went on, we saw a visible breakdown in Sora's expression; he slowly went from stubborn, silent annoyance to being perfectly calm. Donald, on the other hand, was as stubborn as ever.

"Um, would one of you guys **please **say something?", Goofy asked, getting desperate. They slowly turned to look at one another, their expressions completely the same, then looked back at Goofy. Yoris, Gregorio, and I paused to see what they would do. Even Tarzan slowed in his step to look over at the group that trailed just a few steps behind him and watched. Goofy looked at each of his friends in turn. "Why can't you guys just say 'sorry' to each other, huh?"

Donald growled and turned quickly away. "No. Way.", he said coldly.

Sora folded his arms over his chest. "Only if **he** says sorry first."

The duck shot an angry glance. "Why do I hafta apologize first?"

"Because you wouldn't listen to me and land the ship!"

"What?"

"If you had just heard us out and let us check this place out—"

"Well if you hadn't just jumped at the controls the way ya had, we wouldn't've crashed!"

"Yeah, but if we didn't come here, then you never would've found those Gummi blocks!"

"So it's thanks to you?"

The boy hesitated for a moment. "Well…"

"We don't need you!", Donald yelled. "We can find the king all on our own!"

Sora's face twisted furiously, turning red. "Oh yeah?"

Goofy gasped in alarm. "Donald! The king said—"

Donald ignored Goofy and turned to Sora in rage. "Yeah! Just get outta here!"

As the argument grew more and more fiery, I noticed Tarzan's attention catch on something else. Feeling tensed from the argument in spite of not being part of it, I came over to Tarzan to distract myself from the tension.

"Something wrong, Tarzan?", I asked, trying to get their argument out of my mind.

The jungle man said nothing as he just stared. I turned to look at where he was looking. I saw a thick growth of foliage that grew on the base of a large tree trunk. Not having very keen eyes, having to have to wear glasses to even see properly, that was all I could see. But as I didn't want to get back to the argument between Donald and Sora, I decided to scrutinize further to distract myself. For a moment, I thought somehing on that spot changed, but I couldn't say for sure. Meanwhile, I heard the argument from behind.

"Fine then!", Sora shouted, spinning around on his heel and stomping away. "I will!"

Donald turned away. "Good!"

"Sora, wait!" Goofy called after him.

"Whose side are you on, Goofy?", Donald roared.

"Are you sure 'neutral' is not an option?", Yoris tried to cut in.

As Tarzan turned away to glance at Sora, I saw what was clearly a leopard leap right at me. The split second I saw it, my shield appeared on my hand and in front of me in an instant as and its claws and fangs met it. The impact still forced me down onto the jungle floor and on my back.

"**Rael!**", Gregorio, Yoris, and Sora gasped in alarm.

Just before it could bring down its claws on my face, the leopard was shoved out of the way by Tarzan. As the two then confronted each other, everyone came to me and helped me up.

"Are you okay?", Sora asked as he helped me back up.

"Other than a slight bruise from the pounce, I'm fine.", I said with a groan. "But Tarzan…"

The leopard and Tarzan circled each other slowly, their eyes locked on each other. Tarzan hissed at the leopard, growling its name. "Sabor."

Sabor responded with a growl. She looked over at the rest of us. It didn't take long for her to realize which would be easiest to make its next meal. The leopard ignored Tarzan and charged toward Yoris. He panicked and frantically brought out out his cannon. As the weapon was pointed at Sabor's powerful cat figure, he launched a fireball, which unfortunately missed.

At this, Sora leapt to his feet, willing the Keyblade, and attacked. He took the Keyblade into both hands and then threw it at the leopard, performing the skill Strike Raid. The weapon spun through the air toward the jungle cat, flying so quickly and with such force that when it smacked Sabor, she was knocked away at an angle. Tarzan bounded forward and caught the leopard, wrapping his arms around her and locking her front limbs tight in his strong grip. He looked up at us as we regrouped around Yoris.

"**Go, now!**", he ordered them as he held the leopard fast.

"No!", Sora shouted back. "We're not leaving you!"

Tarzan's eyes went wide in surprised awe. In that moment, the leopard broke free of Tarzan's grip and turned on him furiously. Sabor ran at Tarzan, forcing the jungle man to retreat up into the branches of a nearby tree. Just as Sabor was about to follow him up there, Sora leapt forward and grabbed her tail. With a rough yank, Sora managed to throw the animal down to the ground. As soon as Tarzan reached one of the higher branches, he spun around and looked behind him. His eyes went wide when he saw that Sora was fighting Sabor.

"Sora! No!"

The leopard was sent rolling across the jungle floor until she finally managed to catch herself by digging her claws into the dirt and rocks. Then, having recovered, Sabor charged at Sora, her jaws wide open. The boy used the Keyblade to block the oncoming attack and push the animal back. I couldn't do much to help as they were moving too fast.

Donald scoffed at the display. "What a show off.", he grumbled to Goofy.

"Won't you help?", Yoris asked Gregorio.

"I'm afraid I can't.", the 'lancer' replied as Tarzan leapt down from the trees and landed next to him, spear on hand. "While I'm good at one-on-one, a freaking big wild cat is a whole new ball game."

"Just how do we fight something like that?", I asked.

Meanwhile, Sabor had managed to maneuver herself so that she was clinging to Sora's back, claws digging deep into his clothes and inflicting serious damage. (4) Sora struggled with bearing the leopard's weight while keeping its teeth at bay with his Keyblade. Sabor only continued to dig her claws into Sora as he struggled, until Sora finally dropped to his knees and forced Sabor's body to fall to the floor. The claws were still on him until he used the Keyblade to strike her limbs until he was released. Having finally released himself from Sabor's grasp, Sora collapsed. He winced at his injuries as he slowly looked up at Sabor.

We could only watch as Sabor rise to her feet and slowly begin to circle Sora, eyes locked on him. I immediately prrpared to fire at Sabor. I didn't want to just stand there and let Sora die. Yoris followed suit and focused his cannon. Sora raised himself slightly and propped himself up on one knee and his Keyblade. Just as we fired at the leopard, Sabor charged at Sora again, roaring viciously and baring her long, white fangs—and dodging our attacks.

Goofy, Donald, and Gregorio jumped to their feet, their eyes shooting wide open. "**Sora!**"

"**No!**", Yoris and I gasped as Sora fell backward slightly and prepared himself for the worst.

In the same instant that Sabor lunged for Sora, Tarzan swung on a vine and kicked Sabor out of the air and sent her flying into the trunk of a tree. The leopard crashed and then rolled down back to the floor. Sabor immediately jumped to her feet and glared at Tarzan.

Tarzan gripped his spear tightly in one hand, completely focused on Sabor's every move, every muscle that tensed on the leopard's body, every time her eyes flicked from one target to the other. Sora was frozen in place, paralyzed both in fear and in awe. We all hurried to Sora.

"What's the matter with you?", Donald yelled as Goofy and I shielded them. He then took out a Hi-Potion and handed it to Sora. "You coulda been killed!"

"What do you care?", he muttered quietly. "All you care about is finding your king." Sora then took the bottle from Donald. He took a few sips before returning his gaze to Tarzan and clenched his fists.

For a long and tense moment, Tarzan and Sabor merely circled, their eyes locked on each other, the tip of Tarzan's spear pointing at the leopard. I considered aiming at the jungle cat, but before I could think of firing, the jungle cat dashed at Tarzan quick as lightning. Tarzan leapt backward and continued to back away, jumping up into a large, nearby tree. It wasn't long before they reached a spot where the large roots of the tree had grown together, forming a platform of sorts.

As Sabor slashed fiercely at him, Tarzan looked about him and quickly grabbed hold of a nearby low hanging vine. He propelled himself back toward the tree and, still holding the vine, ran all the way around the trunk to gain momentum. Tarzan leaned forward as he ran, streamlining his body, stretching his neck to see what was coming toward him. He launched himself forward, leaping from the tree trunk and landing back on the 'platform'…only to see Sabor gone.

Seconds earlier…

We ran as quickly as we could to keep up with the battle, stumbling over the tree's roots clumsily. Pulling himself over the roots making the platform, We did our best to keep our eyes on Tarzan and Sabor, but they moved too quickly. By the time Tarzan re-entered our field of vision, the jungle man stood alone, looking around him warily. Sora let out a breath, relieved to see Tarzan still alive. Considering the possibility, I decided to look at the spot above Tarzan and saw—

"Above you!", I shouted.

The moment I said that, Sabor pounced from the branches above. Tarzan turned his attention upward in time to see her coming toward him. Quickly, he used his spear to block the attack and diverted the leopard's momentum downward, throwing her to the jungle floor far below us. Sabor landed on the ground with a loud, painful thud, and then quickly recovered, jumping to her feet.

Tarzan then leapt down from the tree roots so that he was level with Sabor, staying in his crouched position with the tip of the spear always pointed at the leopard. By then, we had made our way to the roots and overlooked the two jungle denizens. We peered over the edge at where the two fighters were circling each other again. As Yoris and I prepared to aim again for Sabor, Sora slowly began to climb his way down to the lower level.

"Sora!", Donald yelled, grabbing onto Sora's arm. "Whaddaya think you're doing?"

"I'm not just gonna sit here and let Tarzan fight her by himself!", Sora told him firmly, shaking himself free. "I don't leave my friends behind!"

With that, Sora wrenched his arm away and hurriedly climbed down the tangle of roots to reach Tarzan. Donald was momentarily stunned. Just then, Yoris and I made our marks and fired. However, just like last tiime, Sabor jumped at her opponent, once again dodging our attacks, and running at Tarzan so quickly that the jungle man barely had time to react. He managed to raise his spear, but the leopard's claws broke through the wood and slashed across Tarzan's chest. The jungle man fell back slightly, wincing at his injuries. Tarzan glared at Sabor hatefully, then took the spear into both hands, glancing down for a split second to examine it. The sharp stone tip was broken off. The leopard growled before jumping at Tarzan again and successfully pinning him to the ground.

Sora's eyes widened. "**Tarzan**!"

He then jumped the rest of the way down and ran at Sabor. As Yoris and I were about to resume our 'artillery support', he grabbed onto the leopard's flesh, both hands gripping a full set of fur, and began to try to pull the animal off Tarzan. This only angered her and she immediately turned on Sora, striking him with one clawed paw, forcing him to release her and step away. Sabor's weight then shifted back onto Tarzan, pressing down on him. The jungle man did his best to keep her jaws away with what was left of his spear. As he did so, he tried to look around for where his speartip fell.

Just then, two balls of fire homed in on Sabor, shoving her off of Tarzan. Both Sora and Tarzan looked up to see where it came from. It was from Yoris and Donald, the latter's staff extended forward, smoke extending from the top. The Key Bearer smiled before he willed the Keyblade into his right hand and charged.

As Tarzan ran off to get his speartip, Sora did his best to battle Sabor. Yoris, Donald, and I watched his back from up high. Goofy climbed down the tree roots to reach them. Gregorio however, decided to leap down like a Dragoon and successfully landed on the leopard, but he was quickly shoved off.

Sora had managed to deflect the leopard's claws with his Keyblade, but it was just about all that he could do. Between blocks and deflects, he couldn't get in a single attack as he was being pushed slowly backward. Thinking fast, Sora pushed Sabor back and ran for the nearest tree, squeezing himself between roots in order to keep her at bay until he came up with an idea. Just then, the leopard returned her attention to Tarzan and made a break for him. Gregorio tried to intercept her, but missed. However, her attention then turned to him.

"Uh oh.", the lancer gulped.

Donald slapped his forehead and groaned. "He shoulda left that to me…"

Sabor then lunged at Gregorio, who then pulled off the same trick Tarzan did; he intercepted her with his javelin, and diverted her momentum so that she ended up going right above him. As Sabor landed on the jungle floor, a fireball from Yoris struck her. I cast Thunder on Sabor and Goofy then smacked her with his shield. I saw Tarzan turn to see us fighting. He stopped, as if conflicted with a choice.

As Goofy withdrew for Sora to jump in and bash Sabor with his Keyblade, I turned to Tarzan, dismissed my weapons, cupped my hands around my mouth, and shouted, "We got her covered, Tarzan! Get your weapon!"

As Tarzan moved quickly to retrieve his weapon, I resummoned my weapons and resumed firing from my vantage point. Just then, Sora, who was Sabor's current target, had tumbled down and landed on the ground below. Sabor leaped after him and was about to land on where he fell before a fireball from Donald hit her from the back. It was followed with a thrust from Gregorio. As he and Goofy then held off the leopard, I grabbed Yoris and Donald's free hands and jumped down to where our companions fought a minute ago, then resumed our 'support fire'.

"Guys!", Sora gasped.

"All for one and one for all, remember?", Goofy reminded him.

Sora smiled. "Thanks."

That's when Tarzan's voice rang out in a loud battle cry. We all turned to Tarzan and Sabor, the latter of which was pushed a distance away. Tarzan had grabbed hold of the leopard and thrown her further from us. As the leopard recovered from the hit, Tarzan taunted her, mimicking the leopard's growl and roar. Sora looked at Tarzan's hand. The sharpened stone was gripped tight between Tarzan's fingers like a knife.

Suddenly, Sabor pounced at Tarzan, and we could only watch helplessly as both fighters fell backward, falling through a small, narrow hole previously half covered by the surrounding foliage. Tarzan's yell echoed up from within the pit.

"**Tarzan!**", Sora cried out at the to of his lungs.

Goofy jumped to grab Sora by the shoulders before he could recklessly jump in. "Sora, wait!"

"**No!**", Sora told Goofy, trying to shake free. "I told you guys, I don't abandon my friends!"

A wry smile crossed Goofy's face. "It's okay, Sora! Just believe in him. He's gonna be just fine, you'll see!"

"Just believe?" Sora fell silent.

Goofy nodded slowly. He then dropped his hands and looked over at the pit. By then, Donald, Yoris, and I clambered down to where Sora, Gregorio, and Goofy were.

For a long while, we stared at the open pit expectantly, waiting for the victor to emerge. If it was Tarzan, then victory was ours. But if it was Sabor, then…we'd be perpared.

Just then, we heard noises from within the pit. Some of the vines that ran deeper into the pit shook slightly. Something was coming. Somebody won. We all entered fighting stances.

Ever so slowly, a yellow fur coat emerged, pulling itself out of the pit. Sabor's head was still hidden from view as she worked to free herself from the narrow hole. We stood ready to finish the battle, when suddenly the rest of Sabor emerged from the hole. Her body dropped to the floor, limp and lifeless, revealing a victorious Tarzan as he pulled himself out of the hole. He looked up at us and smiled slightly. We let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, Tarzan.", said Sora.

"Why?"

"Because I…I doubted you. I…should've believed you would win."

For a long moment, they stood in silence, until Tarzan placed one hand over Sora's heart. Confused, Sora raised his eyes to look Tarzan full in the face. Tarzan's expression was solemn for a long time. At length, Tarzan smiled.

"Sora, Tarzan, friends.", he said. "It is…okay."

He then took hold of Sora's hand and placed something in his palm, closing Sora's fingers around it before removing his hand. Sora uncurled his fingers in surprise and peered at his gift. It was a single white fang. I guessed it was from the recently defeated Sabor.

"This isn't… what I think it is… Is it, Tarzan?", Sora asked.

"Sora very brave.", he told him. "It's…a present."

He put one hand over his heart and then pointed at Sora's. We all exchanged surprised looks. Sora then smiled back at Tarzan and was about to thank him when the sound of a gunshot echoed across the jungle. We turned to the sky as we then realized from the direction the large flock of birds were taking off that it came from—

"The camp!", Sora gasped.

Part V. Confrontation

The seven of us rushed back to the campsite as quickly as our legs could carry us. Well, I used the scooter, deciding to save my stamina for battle. By the time we reached there, we saw that the campground was completely deserted. Not a soul seemed to be in sight. Immediately, we entered the main tent, only to see Jane missing.

"Hey, where's Jane?", asked Sora as Tarzan began to sniff about.

"What's wrong, Tarzan?" asked Goofy.

"Something coming.", the jungle man answered. "Jane, danger. Jane near…Near tree house."

"Sounds like trouble.", gulped Yoris.

"Let's go!", yelled Donald as he already exited the tent.

KHKHKHKHKH

After a long while, we reached the canopy and swung through the vines where, to our fortune, no Heartless intervened. Just as we reached the area that led to the treehouse, we saw a large black fruit. It didn't look like anything I (or anybody else for that matter), would eat, and it didn't look natural either.

"The big black fruit looks suspicious.", said Gregorio as Powerwilds suddenly appeared. Just then, we heard a voice.

"Tarzan!" It was Jane. And it seemed to come from the fruit.

"Jane's in there!", Yoris gasped. Just then, the number of Powerwilds doubled as Shadows joined the fray.

"Sora!", I told him. "We gotta get rid of the Heartless and then we burst the fruit open!"

"Got it!"

As one, we all charged. It was a very hectic fight, but the opening of the fruit was easily done by Gregorio and Tarzan using their piercing weapons and tearing it open. Just as we dispatched the last of the Heartless, Jane fell to the ground, limp and unconscious.

Tarzan scooped her up in his arms and propped her up into a sitting position against the tree. He began to shake her gently. We all crowded around her, kneeling down on the ground or standing nearby. Jane groaned slightly as she began to awaken, struggling to open her eyes.

"Jane!", Tarzan said.

"Jane! Can you hear us? Are you okay?", Sora asked.

The young woman slowly opened her eyes and looked up into our faces. She then leaned forward slightly, putting one hand to her forehead and groaning softly. Her eyes then shot open and she grabbed Tarzan's arm.

"Tarzan!", she said to him urgently. "Oh, Tarzan, we've got to do something!"

"What happened?", Gregorio asked her.

"It was Clayton."

"Clayton?", Sora gasped.

"There was…there was a gorilla. She came running into the tent and pushed me down to the floor. I tried to get up but she wouldn't let me. She held me down. I was so confused, and then all of a sudden, Clayton came to the tent, and…" Her voice trailed off.

"And…?", Donald prompted her.

"That's… the last thing I remember.", Jane said slowly. "I remember he said something about the gorillas. And he took away the one that came to the tent!"

Tarzan raised his head and began to sniff at Jane. I guessed he was trying to pick up the gorilla's scent from Jane. I was worried that he might not pick it up due to the 'juices' of the fruit she was imprisoned in, but his eyes then widened. "Terk."

_Looks like his sense of smell is better than I expected._, I thought.

"Isn't that what you called the gorilla we saw in the tree house?", Donald asked.

He nodded in affirmation, then sniffed in the air and closed his eyes for a moment. After a while, he said, "Terk ran. Gorillas… trapped."

"We must help the gorillas!", Jane exclaimed worriedly as she slowly rose to her feet with Tarzan's aid.

"Don't worry.", Sora told her reassuringly. "We will." He looked to the res of us and nodded slightly. "Come on, guys."

The Key Bearer began to walk away, with Donald and Goofy following. Just as Yoris, Gregorio, and I were about to join as well, Jane reached out and took hold of Sora's jacket sleeve. "Wait."

We all stopped and turned to Jane, who was now standing on her own two feet.

"I'm going with you."

Tarzan's eyes widened and he stared at Jane in awe, his mouth slightly agape. Donald laughed out loud for a while, thinking it was a joke. The rest of us stood dumbfounded, save for Sora, who smiled slightly before looking back at Jane. The duck then stopped laughing after realizing that Jane was indeed serious. He then straightened himself and cleared his throat.

"Sorry, but you can't come with us.", Donald said.

"He's right, Jane.", Goofy agreed. "It's too dangerous."

"I've already decided.", Jane said firmly as she walked over to join us. "My mind is made up."

"But Jane…", Sora began to say as he turned to Tarzan, who moved toward Jane and straightened to his full height. Jane stopped and looked up at Tarzan, slightly intimidated. He looked her in the eye for a long moment and then looked at Sora, who conceded with a smile. "Alright. But you have to be really careful, okay?"

Jane smiled gratefully before looking back to Tarzan, who pushed a loose strand of hair away from her face.

"Jane…"

"Don't worry, Tarzan.", she told him as her cheeks reddened a little. "I'll be alright. I…can take care of myself."

We had teasing smiles on our faces as we saw this moment of affection. Jane turned and froze upon seeing we saw it all and her face turned bright red. Tarzan turned his gaze on us and tilted his head slightly.

"What?", he asked.

"Nothing, nothing.", Gregorio said with a grin.

Sora raised his arms over his head and turned. "We better get going if we wanna save the gorillas."

Tarzan took Jane by the hand and followed Sora as he led the way. Suddenly, I entered 'vision mode' once more.

KHKHKHKHKH

'I' now found myself at a small area closed off by small cliffs of dirt and rock, leaving only a few escape routes. Growths of ivy and other vegetation were on small segments of the stone walls, and tree roots protruded from within the rock and dirt. Leaves and branches of trees could still be seen, but not much light reached the floor through them, instead coming from the other side of one of the higher dirt walls, which was near impossible to climb. Patches of moss were the only vegetation on it.

The gorillas were all huddled together, shaking in fear as they stared at the stranger before them and his horde of blue and gray monkeys. 'I' widened my eyes in shock; Clayton was leading the Heartless.

Some of the gorillas were struck by the Heartless and ran to the company of the others in fear. They watched as the Powerwilds hopped in place, their eyes locked on all the gorillas. A wry smile crossed Clayton's lips and he moved forward, aiming his shotgun at the nearest gorilla; 'I' identified it to be Kala as she stood there paralyzed and silenced in fear.

Kerchak moved forward and roared in offended rage. Immediately, Powerwilds emerged from the tree branches above and pounced on the silverback. The other gorillas began to scream and holler, pounding their fists on the floor and baring their teeth. Clayton was about to pull the trigger when—

"**No!**", a voice came.

Sora and company arrived in the nick of time. Like before, the moment 'I' saw myself, my perspective shifted immediately as we stopped several feet away from Clayton's position. Clayton glanced over, rolling his eyes slowly to look. He lowered his gun slightly before turning his neck to look at us fully, staring for a long moment without flinching.

Meanwhile, as soon as he had dispatched all the attacking Heartless, Kerchak hurried to Kala's side and examined her quickly. He looked to the others before gesturing for all of them to follow him. Kala obeyed him almost immediately with a slight nod. All the gorillas followed suit as they retreated into the higher reaches of the area, into the trees or to the clifftops.

For a long moment, Clayton merely stared at us as if we never met before, gun still in his grip even though his target escaped. Tarzan moved closer to Sora as both of them stared at the hunter.

"Clayton?", Sora gasped in confusion and frustration.

"Not Clayton!", Tarzan yelled firmly as he tightened his grip on his spear. "Ee ooh, oo ooh ah! Not Clayton!"

"What do you mean, Tarzan?", I asked as I brought out my shield, surprising Jane as she saw it appear out of nowhere. She then looked at everyone in concern before looking over at Clayton in confusion.

"There's something very different about him now.", Gregorio said as he and Yoris slowly pulled out their weapons.

Suddenly, a horde of Powerwilds rushed to Clayton's side, and immediately turned to look at us. Jane gasped in fear and horror. Clayton then nodded slightly, as if giving a signal, and they all charged at once. Clayton then jumped up, higher than Sora currently could, and landed on one of the smaller raised cliffs.

Goofy took out his shield, Donald took out his staff, and Sora summoned the Keyblade, further suprising Jane. Above us, the gorillas began to shriek and scream, pounding their fists excitedly as they watched the ensuing battle. As I summoned the DirLuxGun, I stood in front of Jane as Yoris then jumped right behind me.

"What are those things?", Jane asked us in panic. "I've never seen anything like that before!"

"Let's just say these things aren't one anybody in their right mind would research on.", Yoris said as he fired his cannon at the Heartless. "They're like a plague, and we're here to cleanse this jungle of it."

"Where do you guys get those weapons? How is the short one able to conjure fire out of nowhere?" At that time, Donald cast Fire at a Heartless. "How did Sora bring out that big key out of nowhere? How—"

"Some things are better left unanswered.", I cut in as I cast Blizzard at a group of Powerwilds headed for Goofy. "And kept secret. You might be branded as a lunatic if you tell anybody about this. You can still have your gorilla research published though."

Tarzan and Gregorio sliced through the Heartless with their weapons, making their way towards Clayton. Meanwhile, Sora blocked the charge of the Heartless with the side of his Keyblade and pushed the monsters away before following Tarzan's example and running into battle.

"Donald!", Sora yelled. "Cover us!"

Without a word, the court wizard turned his sights on the remaining Heartless and cast Blizzard, freezing the Heartless in place and turning them into blocks of solid ice. Yoris launched a fireball that plowed through and shattered them.

Tarzan jumped at a Heartless creeping behind Sora and pinned it to the floor before driving his spear into the creature's chest area. Sora glanced over at Tarzan and grinned gratefully. The two then put their backs against each other as they were surrounded by Heartless. Goofy and Gregorio did the same as they faced the same predicament. Above, the gorillas continued to shriek and scream, jumping slightly in place as they watched.

"Tarzan!", Jane gasped.

Upon hearing Jane, Donald looked over at his companions, and then cast a Thunder spell that defeated several of the Heartless. He then waddled hurriedly toward Sora and Tarzan and began to jump up and down, wailing loudly as to be heard over the screaming of the gorillas.

"Sora! Tarzan! Get Clayton!", he wailed.

Meanwhile, I kept my eye on Clayton as he aimed his shotgun at us, shooting at Goofy, Gregorio, Yoris, me, and Jane. Of course, I stood to defend the latter as I returned fire.

"He's over there!", I called as more Heartless suddenly appeared to hold me and Yoris off.

"Got it!", Sora replied before breaking away from Tarzan, who continued to take down the Heartless that kept appearing.

As soon as Clayton turned away from the battle, I saw Sora try to sneak his way to the hunter, staying close to the high dirt and stone walls. Just then, Clayton raised his shotgun, aiming at Goofy as he continued to bash his shield around. Just before he could pull the trigger, Sora approached Clayton and yelled. The hunter jumped in alarm and his gun ended up shooting to the sky. The gorillas howled in alarm from the shot, which wasn't deafening like I expected it to be. Clayton then spun around to face Sora, who didn't move.

"What are you doing?", Sora demanded angrily.

The hunter didn't answer, his eyes hard and focused, void of emotion.

"Clayton! What's wrong with you?"

As the rest of us finished off the last of the Heartless, we all looked up to the two and so did every single gorilla, falling silent as they looked on. I then realized that Clayton was about to fire.

"Sora!", I yelled as I aimed at Clayton, not wanting to see Sora get his head blown off or receive a severe wound. I knew something protected me from gunshots, just like it did during my first confrontation with Irvine back at Traverse Town. But I didn't know if that 'barrier' against gunshots also applied for Sora.

Before I could attack, Donald already made his move and cast Fire on Clayton's gun, forcing him to drop it. Sora kicked the gun away, sending it flying to the other side. It tumbled to the ground and slid to the high, steep wall, stopping right next to it. Sora then turned back to Clayton.

"Clayton… Come on. Enough already."

The British man glared at Sora for a moment before suddenly taking out a machete (5) and brought it down on Sora, who blocked with his Keyblade. Clayton then jumped away and made a dash for his gun. As he jumped down from the small cliff, Sora was in hot pursuit, and the gorillas made low chants all the while. I considered shooting Clayton, but my personal morals got in the way and I hesitated. Tarzan came forward and stopped Sora, who looked up at Tarzan in shock.

"Tarzan, let me go! We gotta help Clayton! There's something wrong with him!"

"Sora stop.", Tarzan said firmly. "Ee ooh, oo ooh ah… Not Clayton!"

He released Sora and put one hand over his heart, thumping his chest lightly.

"Ee ooh… oo ooh ah?", Sora repeated.

Tarzan nodded and stepped away. Meanwhile, Clayton retrieved his shotgun, sheathed his machete, and aimed at Sora. Upon hearing gun being cocked, we all turned to Clayton. Sora got into a fighting stance. Suddenly, Clayton raised his head slightly, then pulled the gun away and rested it on his shoulder.

Seconds later, the stone wall behind Clayton exploded as if dynamite was set on the other side, large chunks of dirt and rock flying out in all directions. Only a chunk at the top of the wall remained, protruding precariously to a different cliff side with nothing underneath it for support.

A loud, moan could be heard from the cloud of dust, but as soon as the dust had settled, there was nothing to be seen. Only more of the jungle and Clayton could be seen standing there. However, I thought I saw something shimmer in the air. I then realized what it was. Just then, Tarzan decided to charge at Clayton.

"Tarzan, don't—", I yelled.

Just then, the jungle man was sent flying backwards by some invisible force. Sora gasped in as he landed in a roll a few feet behind where he stood. Tarzan growled in pain as he tried to get up. The gorillas screamed and roared, pounding their fists and hopping around in place with their teeth bared as they howled.

"**Tarzan!**", Jane screamed in horror as she tried to move forward, but she was restrained by Yoris. "Please let me go!"

"Just believe in them, Miss Jane.", the cannoneer assured her.

Clayton reloaded his shotgun and as we heard a strange animal noise, the hunter seemed to float in mid-air. As he then aimed at Sora, I thought I saw an invisible barrier manifest around him and his invisible mount. This barrier then expanded, passing through Tarzan, Sora, me, Donald, Gregorio, and Goofy. When the barrier hit Yoris though, it then became visible and started to push him to the cliff wall. Quickly, he took Jane and they ran off to where we came in before the barrier could crush them against the wall.

"What's happening?", Jane asked.

"Do you remember the phenomenon when we encountered the leopard back at the camp?"

"Yes?"

"This is it."

Back in the 'barrier' that seemed to form and expand, pushing away some of the gorillas, Clayton aimed right for Sora. Just as the hunter began to squeeze the trigger, Sora performed Strike Raid, tossing his Keyblade at the shotgun and knocking it out of Clayton's hands. The Keyblade then returned to Sora's right hand like a boomerang. All of the gorillas cheered loudly at Sora's small victory.

"Donald! Help Tarzan!", Sora commanded.

The court wizard did as told, taking out a Hi-Potion and offering it to Tarzan, who hesitantly drank it. Goofy stood in front of them just in case.

"Sora!", I called. "Clayton's riding an invisible creature!"

"How do you know?"

"Do you see where the air is distorted? I'm thinking it's there!"

Sora turned to me, then back at Clayton, who had taken out his machete. He then saw what I meant, began to charge forward, and swing the Keyblade. He seemed to miss, but he tried again, moving forward and adjusting his grip.

"I see it too!", Gregorio said as he then turned to the others. "Guys! See where the air looks funny?"

Tarzan bounded forward, taking his spear into both hands. Donald and Goofy gripped their weapons tighter.

"Yes!", Tarzan answered.

"I see it!", Donald gasped.

"Me too!", Goofy agreed.

"**Hit it**!", the lancer yelled. "It cannot be seen, but it's definitely there!"

As Tarzan, Gregorio, Sora, and Goofy began to swing their weapons at the invisible creature, Donald pointed the tip of his staff at the distorted air right beneath Clayton's legs. I decided to follow suit and we both cast—

"**Blizzard!**"

Two blue beams emerged from our weapons and struck the beast, creating a patch of ice over it, making a small part of it visible. The gorillas cheered loudly at this small accomplishment. Goofy saw the patch of ice, jumped into the air, and bashed close to the spot. The gorillas' cheering grew in volume and hype as a loud, angry roar resonated throughout the area.

A loud thud was heard, and I assumed that the monster stumbled backwards. The ground shook, and a small chunk of dirt and rock fell from above and hit Sora on the head. He looked up to see that it came from the chunk of the wall that survived the previous explosion.

"Donald!", he yelled.

The duck shot a slightly annoyed glance in Sora's direction. "What?", he quacked.

"Keep shooting it with ice!", he ordered. He turned to me. "You too, Rael!" Then to Tarzan, Gregorio, and Goofy. "Guys, I need you to hit the monster thing wherever you see frost and ice! Push it over to this wall!" Sora pointed at the wall he was close to. that the large chunk of rock was clinging to.

We all nodded and followed his orders. Sora then put the Keyblade away and headed for the wall, looking for a way up. Seeing that Sora was having a hard time, Tarzan called up to one of the gorillas. Almost immediately, Terk herself grabbed a vine and threw one end of it down to Sora, which passed through the barrier as if it wasn't there. The boy grabbed the vine and began scale the side of the wall, seemingly "walking" up the rocks as he held the vine.

"What's he doin'?", Yoris asked in confusion.

"Oh, I see!", Jane breathed excitedly. "I think I know what he has planned!"

"Really? I don't get it."

Just as Sora reached the top of the wall, he clambered onto it and let out a breath. He waved back at Terk before returning his attention to what he was about to do. Sora crawled over the wall until he hung onto the precariously hanging chunk of rock.

Meanwhile, the rest of us were pushing the monster towards where Sora had instructed. Donald and I released flurries of Blizzard, the former had an Ether bottle in his free hand to drink from for magical energy. I, on the other hand, had to pause whenever I had to take and Ether and decided to let the duck do the freezing as I resorted to shooting at the invisible monster.

Tarzan, Goofy, and Gregorio were at a frenzy in their attacks, striking at every frozen spot and, if not possible, any adjacent sections as they knocked the creature towards the corner of the wall. Once in a while, Clayton swung his machete to fend off his attackers whenever they got too close to him, but it was soon knocked off of his hands by Gregorio's javelin. As that happened, the rock jolted violently and Sora yelled in alarm. All of the watching gorillas fell silent at the cracking sound of the breaking rock.

Jane drew in a sharp breath. "There… It's started to break."

Sora then slowly rose to his feet, holding his arms out to the sides to maintain his balance.

We all gasped loudly in shock. Jane, on the other hand, just bit down on her lower lip as she watched.

"Sora, what're you doin'?", Donald quacked frantically.

The Key Bearer looked over at Donald and then at each of us, a smile on his face. "Just trust me on this!"

Tarzan moved forward slightly before hesitantly swinging at the monster to keep it in place. Even Clayton turned around to see what was going on. Sora jumped into the air and landed forcefully back onto the rock. The large crack spread from one side of the ledge to the other, the whole thing jolting. The gorillas watched from their positions.

"Sora! Be careful!", Jane cried out.

"Don't tell me…", I gasped as I knew what he was about to do.

Sora then jumped again, breaking off the rock. It fell on top of the invisible creature, but Clayton leapt off and tumbled to the dirt floor. Sora meanwhile, jumped off the rock as it landed on the creature, grabbed hold of the vine Terk was still hanging onto, and crashed painfully against the side of the wall. He then slowly slid down the vine as Goofy came over to him.

Suddenly, a field of what looked like electricity appeared around the monster. Its image began to flicker and I realized its 'cloaking' ability was fluctuating. As it became fully visible, everyone saw at last what the monster truly looked like.

It was like a giant horned chameleon, skin covered in what looked like an army camouflage pattern, save for its underside which was a creamy off white color. Small, sharp razors protruded from its backside, starting from behind the neck and stopping at the long, coiled up tail. Its eyes were yellow and 'bugged-out', with black irises, and seemed independent of each other, looking in all directions. A large, sharp horn jutted out from the chameleon's snout. The monster stood on its hind legs, but was hunched over. A large symbol of a black heart with two red, jagged lines crossing over it in an "x" could be seen on the creature's chest.

I recognized this symbol, seeing it on the Soldiers, the "Musical Wizards" 'genus', Large Bodies, and Powerwilds we dealt with in past battles, not to mention the Guard Armor and Trickmaster.

"It's a Heartless!", I gasped as the giant chameleon collapsed with a loud thud, the slab that fell on it crumbling into smaller pieces and burying the its upper torso. It groaned and warbled in defeat, looking up at Sora and extending a hand toward him, but failing to reach him as everyone gathered together.

"Stealthy, sneaky, mean Heartless… thing.", Sora grumbled under his breath.

Just then, my Diary 'beeped'. "Stealth Sneak.", it said. "A giant Heartless that can maipulate the light to turn invisible. Along with lunge attacks, it can also shoot blasts of energy from its hands and eyes."

_Almost sounds like a Pokédex._, I thought to myself. _Now why isn't _that_ memory fuzzy?_

"Blast!", I heard Clayton say, interrupting my thoughts. We all turned to see him, his gun back in his grasp and aimed straight at Sora's heart. A malevolent grin appeared on the hunter's face. "Goodbye, boy."

Just as Clayton was about to pull the trigger, I aimed at him in retaliation…and he quickly turned and shot me. At the left shoulder. Where Irvine once shot me before. As usual, the pain wasn't just on that spot, but the force of the hit threw me off. Before he could aim at Sora again, Donald made a charge at him, ramming Clayton to the side and then striking him angrily with his staff.

"Leave him alone!", Donald yelled fiercely.

Sora's eyes widened in surprise. "Donald…?"

"What?", Gregorio gasped upon seeing what the duck just did.

Clayton fell back from the hit and winced at his injury, holding his shotgun in one hand. He glared angrily at Sora and Tarzan with his lips pressed together, taking deep breaths. Clayton then took aim once more. Behind him, we saw the Stealth Sneak rise to its hind legs. As Donald saw it and retreated, the Heartless began to shimmer and glow, flickering in and out of visibility. Its body shook violently as it tried to stand, eyes to the sky. Slowly, Clayton dropped his shotgun and turned around to look at it.

Above us, the gorillas began to chant a series of loud, synchronized grunting noises that slowly escalated in tempo and volume. The Stealth Sneak dropped its gaze at Clayton and took a few steps toward him. The monster groaned and warbled as its hind legs gave in. Clayton howled in horror as the chameleon's body fell on top of him. The ground shook violently with the impact, and I winced slightly at yet another non-Heartless life lost.

Just then, I saw a small green scroll fly out from where the Stealth Sneak crashed and land on the ground. Nobody made a move for it however as the Heartless began to glimmer with a bright light. A large, glowing heart then emerged from within the chameleon and began to drift skyward as the Heartess (and Clayton) fade away.

Part VI. Revelations

As the invisible barrier barring everyone from the area disappeared, the gorillas moved forward slightly, eyes wide in awe as they looked at us as we stood a few feet away from where the Stealth Sneak vanished. We all looked up at them, not knowing what to expect. Yoris and Jane moved to rejoin us, their eyes turned upwards to look at the gorillas.

For a long while, they remained silent. Then suddenly, they burst out in a loud cheer and howls of victory soared out over the jungle. They whooped and cheered and thumped their fists on the ground in celebration.

"This is extraordinary!", Jane said with an excited smile.

Tarzan looked over at us "They say…"

"It's okay, Tarzan.", Sora interrupted with a slight laugh. "I think we know."

"They're thanking us for saving them.", Yoris guessed.

Meanwhile, Gregorio took Clayton's machete, which had fallen on the ground, and decided to stow it in my bag.

Kerchak and Kala had been watching the battle from above with the rest of the gorillas, who fell silent as the former came toward us slowly, the latter and Terk following on either side of him. They came to a halt about a foot away. Kerchak then placed one of his massive hands on Sora's shoulder.

"H-Huh?" The boy's eyes went wide, looking at the silverback's hand, then to his face and then back to the hand. "Okay, what's going on now?", he asked Tarzan.

Before the jungle man could answer, Kerchak lifted Sora off the ground, and then tossed him straight into the air behind him. Sora screamed all the while as we were next. One by one, Kerchak hurled us over his back and we were flying in the sky. Sora landed face first, and so did Donald. Goofy landed on his butt, and Gregorio and Yoris landed on their backs. As for me, I managed to adjust myself so that I would land feet first. I succeeded, but then tumbled on my butt like Goofy.

"Oww…", I groaned. "Why'd he have to do that?"

"Yeah.", Gregorio agreed. "Couldn't he have just escorted us or something?"

As we got up, Tarzan climbed to where we were tossed using the vegetation on the side of the cliff. Turns out we were hurled onto a small cliff.

Jane backed away from Kerchak, eyes turned downwards, and then faced the cliff, probably not wanting to be thrown like the rest of us. The seven of us on the cliff moved to the edge and looked down at the gorillas, who stared up at us for a long moment, Tarzan returning their stern looks. Kerchak then nodded at the other gorillas and they all lumbered back into the forest. Terk stayed behind and looked up at Tarzan proudly before climbing up to join us. Tarzan extended a hand toward Jane and pulled her up to join us. The young woman rose to her full height and dusted herself off.

"Well, that was exciting."

We had ended up on a plateau overlooking a wide, blue river that wound its way deeper into the jungle, with large cliffs on either side of it, eliminating any chance of swinning across. Two large waterfalls roared to the left, separated by a portion of protruding cliff, their tops covered in rich green foliage and vines.

"This is beautiful.", Jane breathed as she took in the scenery.

"You can say that again.", Yoris agreed.

Tarzan took a deep breath through his nose as he faced the area. He then glanced over at us. "Tarzan, home."

"This is…your home?", Jane asked in surprise.

The jungle man nodded and smiled. "Follow me."

He turned on his heel and led us into a cavern tunnel we overlooked. It seemed to lead toward a place behind the waterfalls. The entire right side of the cavern was slightly open, so we could peer out from within the cliff. As we reached the area behind the waterfalls, the wall was completely opened up, and the cave expanded into a large cavern. Everything was tinted blue, from the rocks to the moss.

The waterfalls roared in our ears as it spilt onto the wet cavern floor. We had to watch our step lest we slip and get caught in the waterfalls. Water also gushed out from cracks in the rock walls, malking smaller waterfalls as they tumbled over the layers of rock, eventually spilling out into the main waterfall.

Tarzan led the way, holding Jane's hand as we climbed up the layers of rock carefully. We had to jump up to reach some of the ledges, or press our backs to the wall as we shuffled along a smaller ledge. I chose not to bother with such obstacles and used my scooter, although I did help my companions across the harder obstacles. There were several patches of ivy for climbing, although there wasn't anything soft below should they fall. I made sure that didn't happen by supporting them as they ascended. Throughout the climb, Jane didn't complain and whine like Sora and I expected. In fact, it was Donald who did all the whining and complaining.

Once we reached the top, Tarzan led everyone deeper into the cavern. We walked through a long, dark tunnel with a small glimmer of light at the very end. Once we reached the light, we were within another beautiful cavern. It was, for the most part, a circular area, closed off by layers of moss-grown stone slabs. Straight ahead was a large tree that protruded from the side, its surface covered in moss and vines. Just over the tree's roots was a bright blue light. It seemed to be alive, glowing and fading ever so slightly, as though it were breathing. Or beating. Beating like a heart.

"Ee ooh, oo ooh ah.", Tarzan said slowly.

Sora glanced at Tarzan, then at the light. "This is your home?", he asked. "But that means…"

Tarzan straightened himself slightly and raised one hand in the air, gesturing us to be silent, and then cupped one hand over his ear and shut his eyes. We all listened, trying to hear whatever Tarzan was listening to. I could hear a faint rumbling noise echoing through the caverns. I widened my eyes upon realizing what it was.

"The waterfalls.", I gasped softly.

"They're echoing all the way here.", added Jane.

"Ee ooh, oo ooh ah.", Tarzan said again. "Friends there. See friends."

"Oh, now I've got it.", Jane laughed. " 'Ee ooh, oo ooh ah' means 'heart'. Friends in our hearts…"

Tarzan glanced at Jane and then strained to copy her. "Huh… Heart…"

"Oh.", Sora murmured sadly. "So that's what it meant."

"Friends, same heart.", Tarzan continued. "Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends. No heart… no friends."

I turned to Sora and sighed. _I guess he really misses Riku and Kairi._, I thought. _I just know we'll find them soon. I don't really know why I wish to find Florina and Windelle, but I'm sure Gregroio, Yoris, and Sora miss them too. It's important to have friends, especially in times like these. Times where we have to fight the Heartless._

Just then, as I managed to hear some other words, which I didn't bother listening to, I saw Sora and Donald face each other.

"Sorry about what I said.", Sora apologized

Donald nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry too."

Goofy laughed cheerfully and pulled the two into a group hug. "A-hyuck! Yeah! All for one, huh?"

I then turned to the pulsating blue light and so did the rest. Sora stepped forward and as he did so, I realized the light was made of a cluster of blue butterflies, all huddled on the tree's trunk, glowing as they flapped their wings slowly.

As Sora approached the tree trunk, the butterflies dispersed, flapping their wings and fluttering away, up through the opening at the top of the cave to their freedom, circling all of us as they flew off, wings glowing all the while.

Hidden beneath the cluster was a keyhole, its edges glimmering blue. Sora smiled slightly, willed the Keyblade forward, and pointed it to the keyhole. His hand was immediately steadied as the Keyblade locked into place. The tip of the key glowed brilliantly, and like before at Wonderland, a beam of light shot out of the tip and struck the keyhole.

Upon impact, a series of intricate patterns appeared on the tree's surface, glowing a light blue color as it spread out. It started from just around the keyhole and spread until it covered a large portion of the tree trunk. Twinkles of blue light converged into the keyhole. As all of the blue lights began to fade, a loud clicking noise was heard, and the keyhole diappeared into twinkles of light.

Something then fell to the floor. Donald and Goofy leaned forward to see that it was a small diamond-shaped Gummi block, colored yellow and green. It was rounded on one side and shimmered for a moment.

"A Gummi!", Donald exclaimed.

"But it's sure not the king's.", Goofy said sadly.

Donald hung his head for a moment before taking the Gummi block. He didn't notice Terk make her way toward him and he quacked in surprise upon seeing her. The young gorilla nudged Donald gently and smiled.

"I think somebody has a new admirer.", Jane laughed teasingly.

Donald jumped in alarm. "Huh?"

Tarzan smiled at Terk, gave her an approving nod, and laughed. Terk returned the smile at Tarzan before continuing to stare at Donald. The court wizard looked wide-eyed at Terk, then at the rest of us. He shook his head vigorously and waved his hands frantically in refusal.

"No, no, no, no!", he quacked in protest. "Daisy would kill me!"

Everyone burst out into laughter, save for me as I palmed my face. Suddenly, I entered 'vision mode' once more.

KHKHKHKHKH

'I' was now in a dimly lit room, which seemed to be like a chapel, the only source of light coming from a skylight in the high, arched ceiling. I could see statues of gargoyles and wild beasts in the hallway, looking as if they were standing guard. The Heartless emblem was engraved on a wall, in a place that would usually contain the statue of a deity.

'I' saw a couple of men dressed up like the late Yi joined up with a few other individuals as they gathered in the chapel around the table, glaring maliciously at the hologram before them. At last, one of them spoke up, stabbing the stone floor with the tip of his long, golden staff.

"What drew the Heartless to that world?", he hissed.

Their leader stepped forth into the dimmed light. The orb on the tip of her staff glimmered green, and her pale face lit up. Her eyes glowed sickly green as she surveyed her colleagues before answering. However, the leader of the 'samurai-clothed' men decided to do it for her.

"The hunter lured them there.", he told them, voice calm and steady. "His lust for power was the bait, but I think it was too tasty for his own good."

The leader turned sternly at him, then turned away just as quickly. Just then, one of her followers cackled.

"Yeah!", he said excitedly once he stopped. "He got chomped instead!"

The other follower stepped forward slowly. It was a tall, bony man dressed in extravagant clothing. He wore black robes reaching the ground overtop a red-violet garment with bell sleeves. Underneath this, he wore a blask shirt with very close-fitting sleeves that reached his wrists. The shoulders of his outer robe were pointed and connected to a long, billowing black cape with a red interior. His shoes were brown and the tips curled inward. He also wore an odd, light-colored garment covering his neck, the back of his head, and his chest.

On his head was a distinctive black turban, with a thin, yellow pattern wrapping around the middle, a red jewel set in the front, and a bright red feather placed just above it. More red-violet cloth hung from it, draping over his shoulders. In his left hand was a long golden staff, its top shaped like a cobra's head and hood. He glared at the previous speaker, his upper lip curled in a sneer, and then looked back at the leader. Not the green-clad halberd-wielding samurai, but the sorceress in black.

"A weak-hearted fool like him stood no chance against the Heartless.", he said disdainfully. Then his tone became angry and firm. "But the boy is a problem. He found another one of the Keyholes."

The sorceress shut her eyes and took in an even breath.

"Fear not.", she said confidently. "It will take him ages to find the rest."

Everyone turned to the hologram, which revealed Sora and company (me included). Sora seemed to be picking up a small scroll, which then vanished into his hands. As Donald seemed to explain that Sora has gained the power of healing, everyone in the room merely glared at the hologram. Then the leader raised her eyes slightly as she came up with a comforting thought.

"Besides, even as the wielder of the "Gun of Light" has joined forces with the Keyblade Bearer's, they remain blissfully unaware of our other plan.", she continued.

Someone else in the room spoke up, her voice bubbling in confidence. "Yes, the princesses...", she said with a cackle.

The leader's eyes widened in excitement. "They are falling into our hands, one by one."

One of the green-clad men pulled back a curtain I didn't notice earlier. It revealed—

"Alice!", 'I' gasped, them clasped my mouth. Luckily, nobody seemed to hear me. 'I' saw Alice stagger forward, her eyes darting around as she looked about her, frightened, clasping her hands together.

"Speaking of which…", the green-clad leader said.

KHKHKHKHKH

Suddenly, I was shaken off of 'vision mode' as I realized we were now back at the camp. We were now in the tent. I was with Sora and the others as they faced Tarzan and Jane. I also noticed Clayton's pipe on the table near the projector.

"I can't thank you enough for all that you've done here.", Jane was saying.

"No big deal.", Sora said with a shrug. "Well, guess we'd better get going."

"Where is your ship, anyway?", Jane wanted to know.

"Well, uh…Not too far.", Donald replied.

Tarzan looked at Sora and smiled. "Sora, Tarzan, friends."

Sora grinned. "Sure are." He then outstretched one hand. "Thanks, Tarzan. For everything."

The jungle man peered at Sora's hand curiously. Jane chuckled before leaning in and explaining to Tarzan what the gesture meant. Tarzan then stretched his hand outward and they shook hands.

"We'll be seein' ya.", Sora said with a smile as we all turned to leave.

"Oh, wait just a moment.", Jane said as she reached toward the armchair and pulled out something small. She looked to Tarzan, who rose slightly and moved to join her, and then, they walked toward Sora. "Here." She took Sora's hand and pressed something into his palm. Jane smiled at him. "I think Tarzan has something to say."

Tarzan rose to his full height, straightening his back, and took a full step forward. We saw just how tall Tarzan really was, and found ourselves tilting our heads up just to see Tarzan's face. The jungle man smiled at Sora, and then pointed at the item in Sora's hand.

"That…is for you…to remember us.", he said gently. He then put one hand over Sora's heart. "But remember…that we will always…be here. In your…heart."

He then took his hand away and smiled at Sora, who then smiled at Tarzan and Jane.

"Don't worry.", he told them. "I'll never forget you guys. I promise."

As we left the tent, and crossed the campgrounds, I was compelled to take another pair of paopus and leave them on the chemistry table along with a pre-written note.

"This is from us. -Your Friends"

Gummi Ship Time: Exchanges

Thanks to its bright red color, we found the Excalibur. After Sora, Donald, and Goofy received a scolding from Chip about handling the ship and leaving them behind in the middle of a jungle, Donald and the chipmunks set to work immediately on getting the ship started up. Jiminy had jumped onto Goofy's head, asking him about what had happened. As for Sora, he just seated himself in his seat in the cockpit and pulled out the gift that he had just received.

It was some kind of intricately carved keychain. It was carved in the form of a small, beautiful butterfly, almost perfectly resembing the ones back at the cave. A thin loop protruded from the top of the butterfly's head in the fashion of antennae, which had a thin strip of a green vine dangling from it. At the other end of the vine was a metal clasp.

Gregorio, Yoris, and I were in the cockpit with Sora and I was asking the former on why I understood the gorillas in those times.

"While you were asleep, I found a gadget that seemed to translate stuff. It told me to put it at the back of your ear and so I did." I placed my hand at the back of my ear and sure enough, there was something there. "Your Diary records stuff according to what you perceive and understand, so I decided to apply them."

"I see."

Just then, Goofy and Jiminy entered the cockpit as the latter furiously wrote down in his Journal.

"What'd they give ya, Sora?", he asked him as he came over.

As we turned to them, Sora looked up at Goofy and held out the keychain. "It's some kinda keychain. It's… kind of a weird parting gift, but they really put a lot of effort into carving it."

Goofy looked at the keychain carefully and then smiled. "You're right.", he said with a laugh. "It sure is purty."

Jiminy's head snapped up suddenly and looked at the keychain. He jumped down from Goofy's hat onto his snout and walked until he reached Goofy's nose. He leaned forward and examined the keychain, pulling out a small pair of spectacles.

"This is some fine craftsmanship!", he observed out loud. "Your friends are certainly good at what they do." He then leaned back and put his spectacles away. "You know something? I'll bet I know what you can use that keychain for."

Sora jumped out of his seat as he spun around to look at Jiminy. "Really? How? What?"

The cricket blinked a few times before straightening himself and dusting off his suit jacket. "You said that your weapon looks something like a key, right?"

"Uh huh."

"And it has the King's emblem dangling on a chain from the top, right?"

"If by 'the King's emblem', you mean those three circles, then…yeah."

Jiminy nodded to himself. "Then if I'm right, you can remove that chain and attach this new keychain that you got from Jane and Tarzan."

Sora sat down again as he thought it over. He then willed the Keyblade into his hands and examined it carefully. Attached to the top of the handle was the keychain that bore the King's emblem. Taking the new keychain into his other hand, he clasped the new keychain and unclasped the old one.

Suddenly, the Keyblade began to glow and tremble in Sora's grasp. A second later, it transformed. Crudely carved bone and ivory replaced the metal length. Strips of leather dyed royal purple in places were wrapped around the handle, more thickly around the handle. Bits of bone were between the gaps of leather, including two sharpened points of bone jutting out of the handle in the direction of the Keyblade's tip. A separate set of leather wrappings weaved between the bone teeth.

Sora's eyes widened as the Keyblade stopped glowing and settled into its new form. Jiminy scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Looks like every time you change the keychain, the Keyblade itself takes on a new appearance.", he speculated. "Interesting. I should make a note of this." Jiminy pulled out his Jornal and wrote in it, hopping down to the armrest of Sora's chair. He sat down and took a few more notes.

"That's so awesome!", Sora yelled excitedly. "The Keyblade just gets cooler and cooler all the time!"

"And you're the chosen one to be the Key Bearer!" Goofy added.

"Who knows?", I said. "Maybe with different looks, the Keyblade gets stronger in different aspects." He looked at me in confusion. "Just a thought. By the way, mind if we change places for a while? I'd like to see more of the Excalibur."

"Oh, all right.", Donald agreed as he came over. "Chip and I have been talking about it for a while and I thought we'd see your Destiny."

"I'll take you there.", Gregorio offered. "Sora can come too."

"Wait!", Chip gasped. "Who'll be driving the Excalibur?"

"I can pilot it.", Yoris offered.

"Okay. Make sure there are no scratches on it when I get back."

"You can count on me!"

As Gregorio got Sora, Donald, and Jiminy with him, he activated the teleporter and they were gone. Yoris then got onto the cockpit and, with a few tips from Dale, got the ship started. As Goofy and I seated ourselves into the chairs behind the cockpit, the entire ship began to shake as it slowly lifted off the ground. The Excalibur rose from the ground made its way out of the jungle and into the sky. Yoris then pushed a few buttons and, as quick as lightning, we were now next to the Destiny. A screen then came up and we saw Gregorio on the controls, Sora and Donald on our seats.

"We're good to go!", Gregorio said as he activated the speakers.

"Copy that!", Yoris replied as he followed suit. The two ships then cruised the stars.

"The Gummi blocks that came out of those glowing keyholes.", Sora thought out loud. "They're not like the others. Wonder what they're used for."

Donald turned slightly. "I dunno."

"Maybe Leon'll know.", Goofy suggested brightly.

"Who's Leon?", Gregorio asked.

"A friend at Traverse Town.", Sora answered.

"So…let's head back there then.", Donald suggested.

"Roger that.", Gregorio said as he and Yoris started the journey back. I then saw Sora suddenly smile and fumble around with his seatbelt. Having freed himself from his seat, he stood up and began to walk toward the control panel.

"I wanna be pilot!", he said eagerly.

As Sora began to reach out for the controls, Gregorio swatted his hands away as he set it on autopilot.

"**No!**", Gregorio said sternly as he grabbed the Keybalde wielder's wrists and held them firmly, getting him to stop momentarily.

"Oh, come on!", Sora protested. He then added with a slightly arrogant smile, "I'm the Keyblade master!"

"I don't care who you are!", he snapped. "Having a Keyblade doesn't give you the right to fly this boat! Wait…that doesn't sound right."

Sora took advantage of this and wrested his wrists free and tried to grab the controls again, but Gregorio stopped him once more.

"Here we go again...", Goofy sighed.

Yoris just groaned and terminated the communication as we sailed the stars.

**Sabor**

_A leopard feared by all who live in the jungle, and an enemy of Tarzan and the gorillas. Sabor is a cunning hunter who targets the weak and helpless._

_She stalked onto the scene in "Tarzan" (1999)._

**Tarzan**

_A young man raised from infancy by gorillas. His gorilla "mother" is Kala. Tarzan spoke only the language of the apes until he met Jane. Since then he's learning to speak English at an astonishing rate._

_He swung onto the screen in "Tarzan" (1999)._

**Jane**

_A naturalist who's in the jungle with Clayton, her guide, to study gorillas. She met Tarzan in the jungle and is gradually teaching him about human ways. She's courageous and will face any danger for her research._

_Exploring the jungle, she encountered "Tarzan" (1999)._

**Clayton**

_A veteran hunter, Jane's guide on her expedition to the jungle. He thinks of animals only as prey. His lust for power and the darkness in his heart attracted the Heartless, and they used him for their own evil purposes._

_He first set his sights on the apes in "Tarzan" (1999)._

**Kerchak**

_Boss of the gorilla pack. He was against letting Tarzan join the group, but Kala's resolve won him over. Kerchak worries that Tarzan's contact with people will bring danger to the gorilla community._

_He established himself as leader of the pack in "Tarzan" (1999)._

**Kala**

_The gorilla who found Tarzan in the jungle. She has always helped and defended him, even when he was scorned by the others. Kala is not happy about Tarzan's contact with people, but she knows it's important to him._

_She was second banana in "Tarzan" (1999)._

**Terk**

_A young female gorilla, and Tarzan's close friend. She is protective of the other young gorillas and acts as their leader. Unlike the other gorillas, her curiosity about humans is greater than her fear of them._

_She was up to some monkey business in "Tarzan" (1999)._

**Stealth Sneak**

_Heartless that attuned to the darkness in Clayton's heart. It somehow manipulated the light to turn invisible and fought alongside Clayton._

(1) I'm assuming that, having lived only in the islands, he doesn't know about any animals other than those he encounters on the islands. After all, while his world might be like ours, it isn't so and it wouldn't sound right if he also knows what we take for granted.

(2) Yes. As it turns out, Sabor is a female.

(3) This experiment is 'found' in the first "Kingdom Hearts" game this story's using as a base.

(4) You know that in most games, no one bleeds or gets their clothes damaged. I'll soon have that phenomenon explained in the next chapter.

(5) How else do you think he could've cut down all that bamboo?

Kep: That was a long chapter.

nightelf37: I know. I also implemented the Sabor fight scene from the movie.

Kep: Why?

nightelf37: Depicting a fight where Sabor jumps in and out from the Bamboo Thicket just didn't sound right. Anyway, see ya on Third!


	9. Chapter 8: Back to Traverse Town

?: I don't understand how Tarzan can surf down those tree trunks.

nightelf37: How so, Bertie?

Bertie Shurtz is a member of Team Mystery Island.

Bertie: Well, there are only two ways I can believe what he does is possible.

nightelf37: What?

Bertie: Well, either he has really smooth feet, or the branches are greased. Otherwise, there is a going to be **a lot** of friction.

nightelf37: Well, Bertie. Your points **are **valid.

Bertie: Thank you.

nightelf37: But didn't you realize that the branches were covered in very slick moss?

Bertie: …Oh. I hadn't considered that.

nightelf37: Now that's Fridge Brilliance. Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there (or the manga), I 'own' it.

Chapter 8: Back to Traverse Town

Part I. Two Forks in the Path

"Are you blind?", Donald was screaming at Sora. "You almost crashed us into a meteorite this time!"

"Yeah!", Gregorio agreed. "What's wrong with you? Oh, wait." He turned to Donald. "Meteorites are only when they crash into the earth. Those we almost crashed into were meteor**oids**."

On our way back to Traverse Town, Gregorio decided to let Sora fly the Destiny, who did it haphazardly. On the way, we encountered enemy Gummi Ships and as he zipped around to dodge them, Yoris used the Excalibur's weapon systems (under Dale's guidance) to shoot them down. Just before they crashed into the meteoroid, The Excalibur blasted it to bits. However, there was a small explosion within the Destiny. Because of that, upon landing, Sora, Donald, and Gregorio were now charred and reeked of smoke and soot. Luckily, none of the gadgets were smashed.

"That's it, Sora!", both Gummi Ship pilots told the Key Bearer. "You're never touchin' the controls again! **Never!**"

Sora nodded absentmindedly, not really paying attention. Just as we opened the gates leading to the First District of Traverse Town, he noticed somebody and waved. Somebody turned and returned the greeting. Save for him, Donald, and Goofy, we turned to take a good look at whom Sora greeted.

It was a girl with short, black hair with a white headband and purple-gray eyes. She was dressed in a green sleeveless midriff top with blue straps going over her shoulders. Her neck was wrapped in a yellow scarf. Her arms were in black fishnet sleeves, disconnected from her top, and were encased in a pair of brown leather gloves at the hands. She wore a pair of white shorts with a blue belt hanging around her waist, and her legs were wrapped in long white stockings that slipped into her brown boots.

"We're back!", Sora greeted, shaking the dust off of him.

"Er… Okidoke?", the girl asked, then noticed us. "Who are these guys?"

"Oh, these?", Goofy asked in return.

In seconds, Gregorio, Yoris, and I were introduced to "the great ninja" Yuffie and she was introduced to us.

"There's something we wanted to ask Leon.", Sora asked afterwards. "Know where he is, Yuffie?"

The young ninja put one finger thoughtfully on the side of her head, tilting her head slightly to one side, pressing her lips together, and humming a tune softly.

"Can't say for sure.", Yuffie said at last. "But I'd say he's down in the waterways, training with his Gunblade again. You guys can go take a look, if you want."

As the word 'Gunblade' clicked in my mind, making me think about it, even though it ended up fuzzy anyway, Donald shook the dust and soot out of his feathers while Gregorio did the same with his clothes and skin.

"Okay. Which way to the waterways?", Yoris asked.

Goofy chuckled slightly upon realizing what Yoris said had rhymed.

Yuffie turned around and pointed in the direction of the Second District. "It's behind that inn that we took Sora to before, in Second District. It's a waterway, so it's easy to miss. Look around carefully."

"All right.", Sora said. "Thanks, Yuffie."

Just as we entered the rest of Traverse Town and took a few steps beyond Yuffie's position, she added, "Of course… you could always take the shortcut."

We all turned around at exactly the same time, in almost exactly the same manner. It creeped me out a little.

"Shortcut?", I asked.

Yuffie chuckled a bit. "You could go through that little alleyway to the side of the Accessory shop." She pointed toward it with a slight grin.

We looked in the direction that she had pointed.

"But there's nothing there," Sora said. "It just leads—"

"Aha!" Yuffie interrupted, wagging a finger at Sora. "Things aren't always what they seem."

"What?"

"Oh, come on, Sora! You're a smart kid, I'm sure you can figure it out on your own."

She gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder before taking her leave, darting back across the street without another word. We watched her leave for a moment before turning to one another and shrugging. We then followed Yuffie's advice and walked down into the alley. There was a trash bin in the corner of the alley, its trash neatly kept. There were also a pile of crates stacked nearby. (1)

"There's nothing here.", Goofy said.

"We can see that, Goofy.", Donald told him sharply.

Sora walked a ways further into the alley and looked about carefully, checking every single object he saw. He ran his fingers along the wall.

"Hey Sora, what're ya doin'?", Goofy called after him.

"I think he's looking for a passageway.", Yoris guessed.

"Passageway?", Donald scoffed. "Right. Like some part of the wall will just open up and lead us to the waterway."

"Well, it is possible.", I said. "Although where I come from, these aren't. Neither are the Keyblade, half-animals like you, or even magic. Well, there are tricks, but they're not real magic."

Just then, something flew right onto the back of my head. I quickly turned around (and so did the others) and saw what looked like an envelope. It was white, looked like the sort for snail mail, and floated in the air, glimmering with magic. I took the envelope into my hands, a red 3-D arrow emerged and we heard a voice.

"Hey there, guys." I recognized the voice to be Irvine's. "If you received this letter, I take that you're back at Traverse Town. I also believe this is your first time receiving a letter like this, right? I wish to talk to you personally. Meet me at the waterways. The arrow attached to the message will point the way. Keep hold of this envelope until you find me."

We turned to the arrow, which pointed to a wooden fence at the end of the alley. Sora dropped his hand and walked toward the fence. He then looked up to the sky, then pressed against the wood and shoved.

"How 'bout we just get to the other side of the wooden fence thingy?", Goofy suggested.

"Yeah, Goofy, we'll just barge through the wood.", Donald replied sarcastically.

"I got a better idea!", Yoris offered.

"What?"

Yoris summoned his cannon and aimed at the wooden fence. "I'll just blast it down."

"Sora, get out of the way!", Goofy hollered.

Sora turned around to see a fireball headed for the fence. He quickly dodged and fled as the fireball exploded at the fence, sending splinters all over the place. Once the resulting smoke cleared, we walked through and ended up in a corridor. Sora recognized the Second District Inn close by. Not a soul was in sight. The dim light from the nearby buildings was just enough to illuminate the corridor.

Just then, Heartless appeared. There were a few Red Nocturnes, as well as a few yellow versions of them. As we learned a little later, these cast Thunder spells and pounced on us whie charged with that element. After we dealt with them, the Diary identified them as Yellow Operas. Seconds later, another wave of these came, this time, there were green versions. These didn't attack us like the rest, but they proved dangerous as when we left them alone, the other Heartless were tougher to destroy as green auras surrounded them from time to time. Yoris then realized that the green Heartless were healing their comrades. We quickly took them all down soon enough and the Diary identified the healing Heartless as Green Requiems.

As we continued down the alleyway, we noticed a pool that continued under the walls, slipping through a set of iron bars clearly placed to restrict entry. As an extra measure, there was a large wooden caution sign showing what I called a 'stick figure' holding out its hands to both sides.

"Well, we're here.", Goofy said with a chuckle. "What do we do now?"

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but our letter is telling us to go to the waterways.", Gregorio said.

Indeed, the arrow pointed there. Meanwhile, Sora ran one gloved hand through his hair, glancing at us, and then pointed toward the bars. "I think Leon…might've gone through there."

We all turned to the sewer entrance. Donald's eyes widened and he turned back to Sora with a loud, stubborn stomp of his foot.

"We're **not** going through the sewers!", Donald said.

"Yeah.", I agreed. "There's no way I'd go swimming in the sewers because they have…you know…sewage. And sewage is extremely filthy!"

"**Hey!**", Sora argued back at Donald. "Yuffie said that Leon's training in the waterways! Do you see any place else that can be described as a 'waterway'? Now come on!"

"Well, this waterway doesn't seem to be filthy.", Yoris argued with me. "I can see the bottom."

"Well, whether it looks clean or not…I'm not going to get myself wet from sewage."

The court wizard opened and shut his beak several times as Sora jumped into the water. I made a face as he stopped for a while. As he then gestured for us to follow, everyone jumped into the pool. I, on the other hand, took out my scooter and rode it, hovering just above the water.

Sora then bent down slightly, searching the bottom of the pool with his hands for a way to open the barred gate. He then took out what seemed to be a small metal spike and pulled the gate open. Sora took the spike and stuck it into the crack between the gate and the wall above it, holding the gate open. Donald and Goofy both entered the passage before Sora, with Donald complaining under his breath about having to tread through a sewer. As I held the letter, Gregorio, Yoris, and I followed.

Along the way, as we traversed the sewers, it eventually led to a dark, mysterious cavern. The floor was covered in water, with a boulder or two emerging above the surface. Above, the ceiling was mostly flat, save for an occasional stalactite. Eventually, the water got deeper and they soon ended up swimming through the dark cavern. I was thankful as I didn't know how to swim.

Eventually, the darkness began to lighten. A yellow light illuminated a small part of the cavern. And there was a sound of a blade being swung against stone. As Sora propelled himself faster through the water, getting closer to the source, we reached a side path—and our 3-D arrow pointed there.

"I'm sorry, Sora.", I apologized. "But I think this is where we part ways for now."

"Oh, okay. Well, let's meet again at the First District before we leave Traverse Town again, okay?"

"It's a deal."

With that, we parted ways…for now. Gregorio, Yoris, and I continued across our separate path. Eventually, we made it to what seemed like a dock. There were also a few flying targets. We then heard gunshots. As we came closer, we saw Irvine practicing. Selphie stood a short distance away and once again, I felt something nag in my mind. Just then, one of the targets approached him, but he batted it away with a swing of his shotgun before shooting it down.

"Hey there, guys.", Selphie greeted, catching Irvine's attention.

"Hey there!", Gregorio greeted in return.

"Welcome back.", Irvine said. "How's your trip?"

KHKHKHKHKH

We explained to them everything, including our encounter with Sora, his Keyblade, Donald, and Goofy. After we finished telling them about the events at Deep Jungle, Irvine spoke up.

"You said something about a Keyhole?", he asked.

"Yes.", I answered. "Why?"

"And you said it was locked by the Keyblade, right?"

"Yeah. Sora is the wielder."

"Good. You see, every world has a Keyhole hidden in it, and each one leads to the world's heart. I assume this town has one too."

"How do you know this?"

"Well, while you guys were gone, Wakka and Tidus, who were accompanying Zell on an errand…well…"

"They overheard something?"

"Yeah. Ever since hearing about the Ansem report, we've gotten interested and sent the three to find out more."

"I see."

"From what we found out, the the Heartless enter through the Keyhole and do something to the world's core."

"And…what happens to the world?", I asked worriedly.

"Simply put…it disappears. Just like Destiny Islands."

The three of us jumped in place, eyes wide and jaws dropped. "**What?**" I didn't see Selphie jump, but I assumed she, as well as Tidus and Wakka, were already told of this.

"There isn't a heart that is safe from the Heartless. They will consume every Heart that they encounter. Such is their nature and desire. Any world whose Hearts have been consumed by the Heartless are lost. But whether or not there is hope for returning them, I cannot say. In any case, you must protect the Key Bearer. He is the only one who can lock the worlds' hearts from contamination."

"But what is it that the Gun of Light can do that prompts the Heartless in attacking me?"

"Well…we have no clue so far."

"How do you even know about the Gun of Light?", Yoris decided to ask.

"As it turns out, the white figure who saved us told them about it.", Selphie said. "That was a long time before we were saved, though."

"Who knew?", Gregorio said as he raised his hands and shoulders and turned to me, then back to Irvine. "Oh, by the way…", Gregorio took out some of the Gummi blocks we had acquired. He had asked a few from Donald before we parted ways. "We found these Gummi blocks, but they're…somehow different from the others. "Do you know what they're for?"

"If you wanna ask about Gummis, I think Cid should know.", the sniper told us as received a hand towel from Selphie and wiped his face with it.

"You mean that guy in the Accessory Shop?"

"Yeah.", Selphie agreed. "He evacuated his homeworld's residents to Traverse Town in a Gummi Ship. Or at least that's what Wakka and Tidus told us whenever they came over with Zell to run errands."

"Okay.", I said as we turned to leave.

"Oh wait.", Irvine said as he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. "Take this with you." He revealed a spherical emerald that seemed to have something in its core. It reminded me of amber fossils that contained mosquitoes and other creepy-crawlies. It glimmered mystically in the dim light. He rubbed it with his thumb, then offered it to me. "I believe this stone holds some mysterious power. I've been carrying it as a good luck charm ever since our arrival in Traverse Town. I'd like you to hold onto it."

I took it from him and examined the stone. "How do you use it?", I asked.

"I told you, it's a charm. And if it's actualy a magic item, I don't know how to use it."

"Take that door to return to the Refuge Asylum.", Selphie offered as she pointed somewhere.

We turned to what looked like a blue door. It also looked like the door I once crossed just after my encounter with Zell. Hesitantly, I opened it…and saw Room 8 of the Refuge Asylum. The table was now empty of books and had a pitcher and a teapot and a few teacups. Quistis was seated on a chair near the table and seemed to be sipping some tea.

"Another portal door?", I asked, turning to the sniper.

"Yes."

"Okay."

With that, the three of us walked through the door and closed it. Quistis noticed and greeted us as we then left the room.

Part II. Delivery

Later…

We reunited with Sora, Donald, and Goofy as we made our way to the Accessory Shop.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in.", Cid said as he turned around to greet us.

Sora laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Nice to see you too, Cid."

Cid then nodded toward the rest of us. "Are these the friends you were lookin' for?"

"Well, Rael, Gregorio, and Yoris are **some**. But not these two.", He referred to the court wizard and knight. "This is Donald and this is Goofy." He gestured toward each of them as they were introduced. "They're helping me look for them."

Donald shot a sharp look in Sora's direction. Meanwhile, Goofy smiled and waved at Cid. "Nice to meetcha!"

"Same here.", Cid replied with a firm nod, then looked at Sora. "So I take it that you've gotten yourself into some kinda trouble?"

"Actually… we have a favor to ask you."

The shopkeeper raised his eyebrows. "That a fact?"

"There's something we want you to take a look at." Donald and Gregorio explained at exactly the same time. "We were told you'd know what they are." They then turned to each other and realized they had talked simultaneously. "You too? Who knew?"

"Uhh…", Cid cut in. Donald and Gregorio then turned to him, pulled out the Gummi blocks, and placed them on top of the counter. Cid's face pulled into a long, stern look, his brow furrowing.

"Well now… What've you got there?" Moving closer, Cid reached over and picked up one of them. He held it up in front of his face, screwing up his eyes as he examined it. Suddenly, his grin returned. "Hey! Well, if it ain't a Gummi block!"

"Yup." Donald said with a nod.

"What're these kinds for?", Goofy prompted.

Cid suddenly scowled. "You're kiddin' me! You're flyin' a Gummi Ship and you don't even know nothin' about navigation gummis?" He shook his head in disappointment. "Bunch of pinheads. Interspace ain't no playground."

"There's a lot we don't know.", Sora argued, taking offense. "So what? We have to use the Gummi Ship to go to other worlds. We don't have a choice!" He then pulled out the Keyblade and showed it to Cid, who looked at the Keyblade, then at Sora, his eyes widened in alarm.

"Whoa, easy. I didn't know. No hard feelings, all right?" He scratched the back of his neck, then checked the Gummi blocks one more time. "Well, I guess I can lend y'all a hand, then."

"Thanks!", we all said.

Cid grinned and raised the Gummi block. "Basically, with navigation gummis, you can go to new places. It upgrades yer coordinate database for locations in known interspace, lets you go where no man's gone before and all that. You want one on your ship, right? It can't hurt to install it… Not like it'll crash yer system or nothin'."

Donald and Goofy nodded in approval of Cid's proposal.

"Uhh…here's the way in ours.", Gregorio said as he handed Cid his teleporter device. "It's up in space. We came down on a teleporter." He was about to explain more when he was interrupted.

"Your Gummi Ship has a Transwarp Room, right?", Cid asked.

"You know how to work it?"

"Yeah. I **am **an expert in Gummi Ships ater all." Cid scratched his nose and returned the Gummi block on the counter. "I'll install it for you." He then drew in a deep breath and bent down, searching behind the counter for something. "But I got this thing I gotta go deliver first."

"What do you need to deliver?", Sora asked.

"Just this book.", Cid answered, still searching. "It's real old. When the guy brought it in, it was practically falling apart. Too beat up to restore it to the way it was." Cid popped back up, holding a book. It was in a beautiful thick amber colored binding and had a small golden lock on it. However, it wasn't locked. On the cover there was a large, blank white space. It looked like a diary, but judging by the way Cid talked about it, it didn't belong to anybody special. He handed it to me. "But overall, I did a decent job puttin' it back together. Anyway, you mind deliverin' it for me? It's the old house past the Third District. Look for a big fire sign."

"I heard that you had somebody running errands for you.", I said. "Why didn't you ask him?"

"Oh? Well, while Zell has been a valuable asset, I didn't think I could trust him enough for this task."

I took the book and nodded. And no sooner had I stowed the book in by bag did the entire building shake. It was only for a brief moment, but everyone save for Cid was caught off guard. Donald quacked in alarm as he fell onto his butt. Sora's eyes widened as he grabbed the edge of the counter with one hand to keep his balance and glanced around them. I tumbled onto the counter and held on tight. The same thing happened with Yoris and Goofy.

"Wh-What was that?", Sora asked.

Just then, there was a sound of bells ringing. Cid perked up slightly, raising his head, his eyes turning toward where the ringing came from.

"Hmm? The bell at the gizmo shop is ringing. You guys can check out the bell if you want, but deliver that book for me first.", Cid continued nonchalantly. "When you're done, stop by the house in the Third District. I'll be there."

"Okay."

KHKHKHKHKH

"Helloooo?"

We now stood in front of a large doorway that bore a large fire symbol on its surface. The door was tucked away in one of the darker corners of the Third District. The short hallway through was dimly lit, and looked almost abandoned; the wood of the door appeared to be very old, and its symbol had even faded slightly.

Donald was pounding on the door's surface. "Anyone in there?"

Goofy scratched his head. "Seems kinda empty, don't it?"

"**Hello!**", Donald shouted with another pounding. "Why don't they answer?"

"Hmm…Perhap's they aren't home for the moment?", I guessed as I touched the door.

Suddenly, the frame of the doorway began to glow, its surface emblazoned with mysterious runes and symbols, which also read vertically on both sides of the doorway. A triangular shaped light of some kind was illuminated, gleaming yellow, looking like a stained glass window, with an image of the sun. Everyone jumped back from the door in alarm.

"…I was expecting this from Sora.", Donald finally said.

"Hey.", I retorted, then turned back to the door. "Well, in any case, it's still shut tight."

Donald then stared at the fire symbol on the door, thinking of something. Just then—

"I got it!", Donald laughed, rubbing his hands together. "Stand back, fellas. I got an idea."

We all obeyed, moving out of Donald's path and pressing our backs to the surrounding walls. He then took out his staff and took aim.

"Oh wait!", Yoris said. "I get it now!"

"**Fire!**" A blazing fireball exploded from the tip of the staff and shot toward the door. As the fire touched the symbol, it erupted in flames, burning hotly for a few moments before extinguishing itself and glowing soft red-orange. The door then creaked open slightly.

"Way to go, Donald!", Sora said excitedly.

"Gawrsh, I never woulda thought o' doin' that…", Goofy said.

"Yeah, well, I, it was nothing…"

"Let's go.", Gregorio said as we all headed through the door, which led us into a large, dark area filled with water. The walls around were steep and smooth, making it unscalable by hand. Lying in the center, perched atop a small island , was a strange-looking two-story house.

It had a roof that looked like a fuchsia-colored witch's hat, at its pinnacle a blue miniature of it spinning around in place like some kind of icon. The roof was filled with holes of all sizes, patched with a variety of items; planks of wood, cardboard, umbrellas, and even a pumpkin. The entire building seemed to be in terrible condition. There were long wooden poles jutting out of the surrounding island ground, attached to different parts of the house that needed extra support. The bricks were light lavender in color, and the carved wooden design slightly tinted with green. Windows lined up the second floor, a few of which had their green shutters open.

"This place is pretty weird…", Yoirs pointed out.

Donald decided to call out, "Hellooo!"

There was still no answer. With another nervous look around, Sora moved forward.

"Come on."

The only way to the house was by a series of flat slabs of stepping stones. Together, we jumped from rock to rock to reach our destination. We passed under a broken wooden archway and walked up a small set of stairs to reach the front door…which was totaled. And was blocked by several large wooden crates and planks nailed over the entrance. A few large strips of torn, faded red cloth were draped over the havoc. We had to find another way in because of this blockade. There were several windows on the first floor, but they were covered in dust and filth, making it impossible to see through them.

"Hellooo!", Donald bellowed again. "We're here to make a delivery!"

"I don't think nobody lives here." Goofy murmured.

"Somebody has to." Yoris argued. "How did Cid get a hold of that weird book if there was no one here?"

Goofy shrugged. "Maybe he was dreamin'."

"If he was dreaming, then he wouldn't have gotten the book!"

"Oh yeah. A-hyuck."

Sora and I circled the house for another way in. As we looked, we noticed small wooden owl carvings lined up perfectly around the house. These owl carvings looked sternly ahead, as if giving a scolding look.

"Hey, guys!", Gregorio called out. "I found a way in!"

"You did! Where?"

"Over here!"

We all raced to Gregorio, who was pointing at a large hole in the side of the house that had been covered by a large, torn up green cloth from the inside of the building. Due to a stack of boxes next to it, we hadn't noticed it earlier. A few chunks of the bricks littered the surrounding floor.

"Nice going, Gregorio!" Sora said, giving his friend a pat on the back.

"Now we can finally find out who lives in this place.", Yoris cheered. "And who the owner of this book is."

I pulled open the curtain and let everyone through before me. The inside of the house was completely empty. There was a raised stone circular platform in the center of the room. It had a small set of stairs leading to the top placed closest to the hole we just went through. Sora let out a breath, running his hands through his hair.

"There's something about this musty place.", I said.

Sora spun around to see me, although something seemed different. I didn't notice though as I continued to speak as I took long, slow steps, hands behind my back, eyes to the ceiling.

"For some reason, this reminds me of the place I followed you to, Sora."

"Where is that place?", Yoris asked.

"I'm not telling."

I came to a halt near the wall, touching the stone, breathing through my nose, then turning around to look at Sora. I then realized he was looking at me strangely. As if he was …attracted to me somehow. His eyes were wide, his mouth was dry, and he was reaching out to touch me.

"Kairi…?"

I widened my eyes in shock. Was he hallucinating or something? He looked completely overwhelmed, speechless. I couldn't believe it. Sora seemed to see me as Kairi.

"Sora?", I asked.

"Kairi?", he replied as he took another step forward in joy.

Everybody turned at the scene. Gregorio, Yoris, and Donald had their jaws/beak dropped open. Goofy merely made his signature chuckle ("A-hyuck!").

"Wake up!", I yelled. Sora shook his head from side to side and closed his eyes. He then rubbed his eyes and then looked at me again.

"Rael?", he asked in surprise.

"You really miss Kairi, don't you?", Gregorio asked. "More than any of our currently missing friends, right?"

"Uhh…"

"Well, well. You've arrived sooner than I expected.", an elderly voice came.

We all turned to the doorway to see who arrived. It was a tall aged man, who wore a long light blue robe. On his head was a matching "wizard's hat" that dropped backwards at the tip. He wore a pair of thin leather slippers, and sported a long white moustache and a beard almost reaching the floor. The hair on his head stuck out from underneath the cloth of his hat. Perched on his nose was a pair of round spectacles, which the man adjusted as he looked at us. In his other hand was a large orange clutch bag.

"Wha… you knew we were coming?", Sora asked as he turned to him then us, then back at him.

The man smiled. "Of course."

"Are you… a Heartless?"

"No emblem, no yellow eyes, not mostly black, is talking, I don't think so.", Gregorio replied.

"Oh, my. No.", the man scoffed at Sora. "My name is Merlin." He bowed slightly. "As you can see, I am a sorcerer. I spend much of my time traveling." The sorcerer looked around abode and took in a deep breath. "It's good to be home."

We were somewhat surprised. Merlin turned his attention back on us and smiled again. He then walked up the steps to reach the top of the platform, adjusting his hold on his bag.

"Your king has requested my help."

"King Mickey?", asked Goofy hesitantly.

"Yes, indeed.", Merlin confirmed, halting in the center and turning to look at us once again. "Donald, Goofy." He nodded at both of the king's men before looking over at us. "And who might you be, young men?"

"My name's Rael."

"Call me Gregorio."

"You can call me Yoris."

"I'm Sora."

Merlin nodded, stroking his beard and looking at the spiky-haired boy. "Ah. So, you have found the key."

"What did the king ask you to do?", Donald prompted.

Merlin held up one finger in the air. "Just a moment…" The duck ruffled his feathers in annoyance as we gathered together and watched the sorcerer in confusion. Merlin set his bag on the edge of the round platform and then moved to the other side of it. He then took out a black walking staff and raised it into the air. He cleared his throat before flicking the wand. "You watch, now, you'll like this."

"Higitus figitus migitus mum!", he incanted. "Prestidigitonium! Higitus figitus migitus mum! Prestidigitonium!"

Suddenly the clutch bag popped open, and out came a variety of items. They were all small at first, but they slowly grew in size. They moved in rhythm, marching dutifully in perfect time. As soon as the first few objects had emerged, time seemed to fly as he put everything in place. Merlin began to bounce and hop in place as though he were dancing. As he continued invoking magic words, which I didn't bother trying to understand, the following items emerged.

First was a table with a white tablecloth, which situated itself on the center of the platform. Joining it was a small green tea set which landed on the table and a large red chair tucked itself under it. A large torch followed placed itself close to the platform's edge. The wick lit up right away, casting a bright orange light throughout the room.

Next was a large wooden desk which placed itself against the wall while the books that followed neatly piled themselves up nearby. Scrolls, candles, beakers, papers, etc. filled up its drawers. A small wooden toy train along with a red rocket placed themselves on top of the desk adjacent to each other. A large wooden drawer placed itself against the blocked front door and next to the piles of books. Three glass flasks filled with what I assumed to be concoctions of some sort seated themselves on the floor next to it. A matching poster plastered itself on the wall above the drawer.

Then, a giant copper telescope situated itself next to one of the windows close by and pointed itself accordingly (that is, upward to the stars outside). Next to **that** came a miniature white carriage that seemed to resemble a pumpkin yet look so beautiful. A lot more miscellaneous stuff came out and sorted themselves out, such as a blackboard, another pile of books, a few more tables and small desks, smaller flasks, a large green comfy bed, and a brass stove. Its pipe had to force its way out of the building, running right through the wall.

"There now.", Merlin finally said.

We all stood in silence from the marvel.

"…What a way to unpack.", Gregorio finally said.

The sorcerer chuckled to himself, moving to pick up his bag. "Well, now just a minute. How else would you get all this stuff into one suitcase, I'd like to know." Merlin cleared his throat as he turned back to us. He smiled and gestured towards the table spread. Chairs moved from different parts of the room and scooped us up and pulled us up to the table. The tea kettle then began to pour a fresh cup of tea for each of us. Merlin seated himself in the large red chair and smiled contently at everyone as we pick up our tea cups and gingerly took a sip. "Now, um… Would you care for sugar?", he asked.

Sora put the teacup down and smiled. "Oh, yes I would." He wiped his mouth. "Please. Uh, what about you guys?"

The captain of the guard grinned goofily and nodded his head. "Uh-huh."

"Thanks.", Donald put his cup back down on the table.

"Sure.", Yoris agreed.

"No thanks.", said Gregorio.

"Never tasted tea before.", I said. "…All right."

Merlin smiled and leaned back. "Alright. Sugar?" He clapped his hands twice and the sugar container hopped forward, picked up a teaspoon, and began to march towards Merlin. "**No!** Manners, manners, manners! Guests first! You know that!"

The sugar container jumped up in alarm before spinning around and marching toward the guests. It came to a stop next to Sora's teacup and, removing its lid, used the spoon to scoop into itself and pour sugar into his cup one spoonful at a time. Merlin chuckled to himself. "Just say 'when', lad."

After receiving two sugars, Sora smiled to himself. "Uh…When."

The container seemed to look up at Sora with some surprise. It then hopped over to Donald to give him the same treatment. Meanwhile, Merlin got down to business.

"Your king asked me to train you in the art of magic.", he said matter of factly.

Sora almost choked on the biscuit he started to nibble on. "Eh?"

Donald nudged Sora in the side. "Pay attention, Sora." The Key Bearer turned to him in annoyance. Donald ignored it and turned his attention to the moving sugar container. "When."

"Yes, please listen carefully.", Merlin continued. "You've done well yourself, learning to manipulate the Keyblade on instinct alone."

"When.", Goofy said to the sugar container as Merlin rose from his seat and stepped down the platform, moving to his pile of books and rummaging through them.

"But that reliance on instinct denies you the full capacity of the weapon.", Merlin continued.

"When.", Yoris said to the container. Before it could move to Gregorio, the lancer said, "When." The container stopped itself in surprise, then proceeded to me.

"Conscious control of the Keyblade's functions is essential to your cause.", Merlin said as he continued to rummage.

"When.", I said after it gave one scoop of sugar. As it then proceeded to Merlin's cup, I turned to the sorcerer. "How many spoonfuls of sugar would you like, Merlin?"

"But don't you get any foolish ideas that magic will solve all of your problems, because it won't!", Merlin continued, not paying attention to me.

I decided to walk over to Merlin's cup and say "When" to the container. It just 'looked' at me, then continued pouring spoons of sugar into Merlin's cup. Sora stifled a laugh, putting one hand over his mouth. I turned to the sorcerer as I returned to my seat. "Merlin? Unless you have a very sweet tooth, I suggest you tell your sugar container 'When'."

Luckily, he seemed to have returned with the books he was looking for. Unfortunately, he hasn't seemed to notice the mountain of sugar where his teacup used to be. " Well, Sora, we can start anytime you like. And…Ah!" His eyes widened upon finally noticing. "When! When! Blast it all, **When!**"

The container of sugar jumped up in fright. Its lid flipped a few times in the air and its spoon clattered loudly on the table top. It then (unwisely) scooped back as much sugar as it could, digging up Merlin's cup, pulled on its lid, and dashed away, hiding itself behind the tea kettle, peeking out to 'look' at Merlin nervously. The sorcerer grumbled as he set the books down. He grabbed the teacup and threw the remaining sugar over his shoulder. He then used the end of his beard to sweep the sugar off the table. As everyone else struggled to hold their laughter, I merely grumbled and took a sip of my tea, then reached for another biscuit.

"Impudent piece of crockery.", Merlin grumbled as he smoothed his beard down and took a seat. He grabbed one of his books and flipped through the pages. He grimaced and shut it again, and then picked up his cup of tea and took a sip. "As I was saying, we can start anytime you like. Let me know when you're ready to begin the training." He then looked at Sora with a knowing gleam. "You mustn't forget your dream… Oh, and one more thing."

The sorcerer gestured for us to turn around in our seats as the room was suddenly filled with small, twinkling lights. They flickered as they moved across the room, gathering together around the carriage model. The light brightened as they clumped together in the one spot. And then suddenly a figure of a woman appeared.

She was a small, plump old lady, who wore a light blue robe like Merlin, except hers reached all the way to the floor. It hung loosely over her frame, the sleeves on her arms large and baggy, the pink interior of the robe easily seen. In place of a hat like Merlin, her robe had a hood currently pulled over her head. Some of her bouncy snow white hair could be seen popping out from within. The tip of the hood was pointed, and curved upwards. Nestled underneath the woman's chin was a large pink bow, the tips of which almost reached the cloth belt wrapped around her waist.

"Hello.", she said with a sweet smile. "I'm the Fairy Godmother. Your king asked me to help, too. I will assist throughout your journey." The Fairy Godmother curtsied in our direction. We smiled back, not sure what else to do. Goofy, however, gave her a little wave. The Fairy Godmother smiled at each of them, and then turned on Merlin. "I am a bit offended to not have been invited for tea." We all turned to Merlin, who practically choked on his latest sip of tea, almost dropping the teacup to the floor. He adjusted his spectacles and began to think of something to say.

"Terribly sorry, I didn't realize, I mean, it hadn't, I was just…"

Her face softened and she laughed. "Think nothing of it, Merlin. I know you've always been scatterbrained. It doesn't bother me at all."

They both laughed for a while, leaving us feeling awkward for just a moment. They then both turned to us, returning their attention to their duty. "I do not know how much we can be of help, but do stop by anytime."

"Alright.", Donald said. "But we should get going now." He nodded for us to leave.

"Okay.", Sora said, grabbing one last biscuit to eat as he slipped out of his chair. "We'll come back soon enough. Thanks!"

Goofy took another sip of his tea and rose to his feet. Then suddenly, he noticed something. "Wait! Fellas!"

Donald and Sora stopped in their tracks, turned around, and looked back at Goofy. Gregorio, Yoris, and I were still treating ourselves to the snacks before thinking of leaving.

"The book."

"Oh right." I reached for my bag, thinking of the old book, and pulled it out. "Cid wanted us to deliver it."

A sheepish grin appeared on Sora's face. "Oh yeah! Oops…"

"That is what we came here to do.", Donald murmured to himself is embarrassment.

"Oh, that book!", Merlin exclaimed upon seeing it, rising slightly from his chair and extending one hand to me. "So, Cid asked you to bring this. Thank you!" I promply handed him the book and he chuckled as he pulled it closer to him and examined it. "My!", he exclaimed cheerily. "The binding's almost as good as new! Highwind's gotten rather proficient at book restoration, hasn't he?"

The Fairy Godmother shook her head slowly from side to side. "Yes, so it seems."

Something clicked in my mind again. _Highwind. Now where have I heard of that?_

Merlin began to thumb through the pages. After a moment, the Fairy Godmother looked up at him and walked toward Merlin curiously, as did everyone else. As we gathered around, Merlin looked up, somewhat surprised, and then laughed to himself.

"You wish to know what kind of book it is?"

"Uh-huh!" Donald said eagerly.

"I don't even know myself!", Merlin said as he closed the book. "In fact, it's not mine. Somehow, it found its way into my bag one day. It was such a curious book, I asked Cid to repair it for me."

"Merlin, you never change.", the Fairy Godmother commented.

Merlin rose to his feet and began to move about the study, looking around. "Well, I guess I'll put it here somewhere, for now.", he said with a chuckle. "This book holds a great secret. The missing pages will unlock it."

"Great secret?", Yoris asked .

"The missing pages?", Goofy echoed.

Merlin nodded. "Oh! If by chance you run across the pages of this book in your travels, I do hope that you'll save them for me." He then found an empty table and placed the book on top of it. "I'll just leave it right here. Do look at it whenever you like."

"How do we find pages of a book?", I asked Merlin. "I mean, even if they are scattered across worlds, I doubt they'd be in reading condition by the time we find them. After all, pages are technically sheets of paper bound to a book, right?"

"Oh, don't you worry about that, lad. From what little I know of this book, I can tell it's magical and that its pages are very resistant to the natural elements. If separated, they manifest chests around them."

"Oh yeah. About those chests…"

"Perhaps another time, young lad. Oh, and about that stone of yours…" He turned to me and Sora, the latter jumping slightly in alarm.

"H-How do you…?", he asked.

"You should ask the Fairy Godmother about that.", Merlin said.

With a dumbfounded nod of his head, Sora pulled out a stone similar to my own, much to my surprise, but yellow. I took out mine as well and we held it out for the Fairy Godmother to see. The plump lady smiled and crossed the room to join us.

"Do you…know what this is?", I asked.

A small, somewhat sad frown appeared on the Fairy Godmother's face. "Oh, the poor thing!", she wailed plaintively. "He has turned into a summon gem."

"A summon gem?", everyone asked, save for Merlin.

The Fairy Godmother gingerly picked up the stones and raised them in the air so as to inspect it further. "These little creatures lived in a world that was consumed by darkness. When a world vanishes, so do its inhabitants." Donald and Goofy looked over at Sora in shock as the boy's face paled. "But these two had such a strong heart; they became gems instead of vanishing with their world."

"Can they regain themselves?", Sora asked.

"Yes, but only their spirit. And don't worry; when their worlds are restored, they will return there."

The Fairy Godmother looked into Sora's face, and, seeing the disappointment and sadness in his eyes, took a step forward and turned around to face us. The smile had returned to the Fairy Godmother's face.

"Now, watch!" She reached into her sleeve and began to dig around inside it in search of something. Her brow furrowed, a baffled look in her eyes. "Now, where is that wand? I know I put it around here somewhere."

As the Fairy Godmother humorously hopped around in place and patted herself down in search of her wand, I turned to Merlin for a question, who was reading a book and sitting on his chair.

"Uhh…Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"I wanna know something about some of the phenomena I've been experiencing in my travels. For one, I've noticed that we manage to not get wounds from any weapon ever used against us. I survived gunshots to the shoulder and one to the head, Sora didn't get so much as a scratch when we fought a leopard, none of our clothes get burnt when we are hit by Fire attacks, and other stuff like that."

"Oh that? It's what I call the Barrier Jacket phenomenon. It happens only to what it classifies as 'fighters', that is, those who wield weapons and have basic experience with them. Instead, when they are hit, the barrier drains the person's energy. This barrier will protect you until you lose consciousness."

"I see. What about this one? Back at some of the worlds we visited, during battles, barriers seem to manifest out of nowhere, blocking some of us out, from as low as three to as many as seven."

"Now that is the Number Fighter Limit phenomenon. Just like the Barrier Jacket phenomenon, it detects if someone is a 'fighter'. Through some unknown process, it chooses a random number, though usually three or six for some reason, and after detecting a certain number of 'fighters' of the same 'side' and of the 'good' and 'neutral' alignment in the area, it pushes out others of the same 'side' as well as those who are not capable of battling."

"It doesn't seem to apply to the Heartless however. Or their 'commanders'. Is it because they are 'evil'? Dammit. Why do they get the advantage?"

"It also somehow applies to 'monsters' who are non-sapient. They also get the advantage."

"How are these things happening?"

"All I know is that I know of them. I'm sorry I can't be of any more help."

"Oh, okay. Oh wait. For some reason, after some battles in a world called Olympus Coliseum, we seem to be performing certain movements at the end of certain battles. Do you know what they are?"

"I'm afraid I can't help you with that. In spite of all my knowledge, the explanation behind that particular phenomena still eludes me."

I sighed. Suddenly, the Fairy Godmother froze in place and she laughed at her own silliness.

"I forgot!", she said, mostly to herself. "I put it away."

Merlin turned away from me, jumped to his feet, and pointed one finger at the Fairy Godmother.

"**Aha!**", he shouted victoriously. "Now who's scatter-brained?"

The Fairy Godmother laughed softly and waved hm off. "Oh, hush, Merlin."

The sorcerer grinned as he returned to reading his book. The Fairy Godmother continued about her business, raising one hand in the air and pinching two of her fingers together. She then pulled the hand down like she was unzipping a zipper. As she did so, a slender white wand appeared between her two fingers. She motioned for me to come over and when I did, she handed to me the green stone I gave her.

"Would you kindly stand back?", she requested. "We're about to have a visitor." Immediately, we obeyed.

Part III. Summons (2) and Power Orbs

She held out Sora's summon gem with her free hand and pointed the tip of her wand at it.

"Bibbity… Bobbity… Boo!"

With another twinkling of white lights, there was a flash. We all covered our eyes due to the brightness. As the light dissipated, there stood a lion. This one had orange-yellow fur, a rust-red mane, and amber eyes. I felt that he looked familiar, but because of the fact that there was now a lion in the room, I quickly summoned my shield to protect myself. The lion roared and Donald jumped into Goofy's arms and Yoris quickly went behind me. Sora merely stood there in fascination.

"Hi there.", Sora greeted calmly, much to our surprise as well as the lion's as he took a step back.

"Umm…hello.", replied the lion.

I was taken aback. This lion can communicate with humans. I turned to the Fairy Godmother, who just winked at me. I then realized it was magic that allowed the lion to talk. Sora then introduced himself and all of us.

"I'm Simba.", the lion said. "What happened to me? Where am I?"

"You're in a place called Traverse Town.", said Goofy, putting Donald back down.

"What about my home?"

"Simba, what's the last thing you saw before you came here?", Yoris asked, coming out from behind me.

"The last thing I saw were large black creatures that came out of the ground."

"Heartless." said Donald.

"Heartless? What are those and why am I here? I have to get back! My friends there—"

"Not there.", Sora interrupted with sorrow.

"What?"

"The Heartless you saw, they took your world. There's nothing left of it. Your friends, they're gone."

Simba just stood there dumbfounded, most likely distressed from the loss of his world. He then burst out of the room through the opening and ran outside. We all quickly ran outside as we saw him jump into the lake and swim to the shore. Before he could leave the area (and probably cause panic to the Traverse Town populace), Sora followed him, jumping across the rocks.

"Simba! Wait up.", Sora called. The lion looked back and saw the boy following him.

"What do you want?", roared the lion as he stopped at the door.

"We can help you get your home back!"

"What? Get it back?"

"You see, I'm also trying to get my home back, and if I do, your home will also return. And when it does, everything and everyone in it will be returned to how it was before. And you'll go home."

"Really?", Simba looked up into the starry sky.

"Really. All you have to do is help us."

"You lost your home too?"

"And my friends." Four of our friends were still missing, but Riku and Kairi were all he could think of. At least that's what I guessed as we watched from the 'island'.

"Hakuna matata."

"What?", Sora asked.

"It's a phrase my friends used to say all the time. And I'll do anything to hear them say it again." He looked up at Sora. "I'll help."

KHKHKHKHKH

We all returned to Merlin's house, where the Fairy Godmother consoled him and told him of what to do to help. He nodded in understanding, then disappeared into his amber-colored orb.

"Now that was unnerving.", I said. I then decided to offer my emerald orb. The Fairy Godmother smiled and took it from me. She then did the same thing she did with the orb that contained Simba.

"Bibbity… Bobbity… Boo!"

Again, with another twinkling of white lights, there was a flash. Once the light faded, this time, there stood what Yoris identified to be a sloth bear. He was obviously taller than any of us. He had grey fur, a light-gray muzzle and belly, a dark-red nose, white claws and toenails, and (like all bears) a short tail.

"Uhh…hello.", I said.

"Hi.", the bear replied, and just like with Simba, we understood him.

We introduced each other and we identified his name to be Baloo.

"Where am I?", he asked.

"You're in Traverse Town.", Yoris explained.

"A man-village?"

"Well, you can say that."

"What about my home?"

We turned to each other, still remembering what happened when we explained everything to Simba. Not wanting to lie however, we decided to tell him. He didn't react well and this time, there was a little pain on our part. As I was close to the door, while the bear ran, Baloo shoved me aside and I was sent to the wall backfirst. Sighing, Sora quickly followed. This time, the rest of us stayed and a minute later, Sora returned with Baloo, who sighed upon entering.

"The bare necessities.", he said.

"Huh?", Sora asked.

"I always lived by those words. I'll do anything I can to get back to that life." He looked up, with the same resolve in his eye as Simba. "You can count on me."

He then smiled and disappeared into his orb, which was now colored red.

As I picked it up, I realized it was the same size as the marbles on my bracers.

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot!", I said as I took one of said marbles out. "What are these?"

Merlin stood up from his seat. "May I take a closer look?" I approached Merlin and gave it to him. "Hmm…This looks like one of those Materia Yuffie used to talk about."

"Materia?", Sora asked.

"Back in their world, Yuffie used to collect these. It calls upon the world's power to enable its users to cast magic. However, since her world has disappered, the Materia are now useless."

"But these aren't Materia, right?", I asked. "Because I used them and they do work."

"Ah. That's the difference between Yuffie's Materia and these…" Merlin seemed to search his mind, as if he didn't know what to call these. "Power Orbs."

"Did you just make that up?", the Fairy Godmother asked.

"Yes. I have, as I didn't have a name for these."

"So you have some too?", Goofy asked.

"Yes." Merlin took out a few from his robes. "But I'm afraid I have no use for them as I do not battle." He turned to me. "Maybe you'll have better luck with them." He gave me two yellow Power Orbs. One of them had a boomerang symbol inside it and the other had a cloud in it. I took out the yellow one that had appeared in my bracers back at Olympus Coliseum during our match against Cloud and Barret. This one had a spinning shield.

"I was wondering…what do the symbols mean?", I asked as I looked at my Power Orbs. The green ones had a flame, a bolt, a crystal, a leaf, and a twig respectively.

"I'm guessing they represent what they do. I'm sure you can figure them out."

"Well, I can guess the flame means Fire, the bolt Thunder, the crystal Blizzard, and the leaf Cure. I don't know what the twig means though."

"Let me see." I showed it to him. "Hmm…I think it's the spell Esuna." (3)

"Esuna?", Donald asked.

"You know that Cure restores the health of its target, right?" The court wizard nodded. "Esuna is for healing various 'status ailments'."

"What are status ailments?", Sora asked.

Merlin turned to the rest. "They are conditions that affect a person's ability to battle for the worse. There are effects like Blind, Confuse, Disable, Immobilize, Poison, and Sleep, which I think its effects would be obvious to you. There is also Silence, which renders you mute and unable to cast magic." Donald gulped in nervousness, who relied on magic in battle. "Charm, which makes its victim fight for its enemy." Gregorio raised an eyebrow. "Petrify, which turns its victims to stone." Goofy shuddered in fright. "Luckily, while Esuna heals them all, there seem to be very few Heartless that can inflict such things, but it pays to be careful." He then turned to me. "You're really lucky to have obtained that Power Orb."

"Thank you, Merlin.", I said.

"About your summons…", the Fairy godmother began to say. "There are more out there than just Simba and Baloo. If you find any more who are in the same predicament as they were, please bring them to me." She then placed one hand under Sora's chin and smiled at him. "Please save them."

Sora forced out a smile as he put Simba's summon gem away. "Don't worry, I will."

"You can count on us.", I said as I inserted Baloo's Summon Power Orb into one of the slots in my bracers.

Just as we were finally about to leave, Merlin raised his staff into the air and cleared his throat loudly, diverting our attention back to him. "Oh, and Sora! You'd best go see Cid before going anywhere else."

Sora grinned, cheering up. "Alright."

Part III. Riku and Windelle

We shut the door behind us as we reentered the Third District. We were all weary from what recently happened and wanted to rest.

"Gawrsh, the number of things we gotta find keeps growing.", Goofy said as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Not a problem, really.", Donald assured. "We'll just get 'em one at a time."

"Sounds like a plan.", Sora said cheerily.

Just then, two Soldier Heartless jumped out from the shadows and landed on me and Sora, wrapping themselves around our torso and locking our arms in place. Immediately, my shield came out from my hands but because of my position, it was of no use as everyone else brought out their weapons. Sora and I ended up stumbling forward into the Third District and we fell to the floor.

Suddenly, I saw a short yellow beam whiz past my head and the Soldier on me was knocked away. I then heard something slice through the air and turned to see the Soldier on Sora eliminated. Both of us spun around to see what happened.

We turned to see two familiar silver-haired friends we thought were lost to the darkness.

"There you are.", one of them said with a cheery laugh. "What's going on?"

Sora's eyes widened in recognition. "Riku!"

"Windelle!", Yoris and Gregorio shouted at the same time as they, Goofy, and Donald came over.

Riku was wielding a black sword with its blade shaped like a red bat wing, the hilt black with a round aqua-colored gem that looked like an eye embedded into the top. Windelle had on his left hand a gun shaped exactly like my DirLuxGun, only it was colored silver.

Sora began to move forward haltingly, approaching the two with caution. As soon as he reached him, Sora grabbed hold of Riku's face, and started tugging at his mouth, as if to make sure he was real. Riku immediately pushed Sora's hands away with a laugh.

"Hey, hey, cut it out!"

Sora took a step back, eyes still wide. He looked the two of them up and down, then backed away a bit more. "I'm not dreaming this time… right?"

"I hope not.", Windelle said as be ran one hand through his hair and released an annoyed breath. "Took forever to find you guys."

The bewildered expression on Sora's face diminished, making way for a joyous smile. "Riku!"

From behind, Gregorio and Yoris bypassed me and Sora and hugged the two. As they did, I saw Gregorio take out the 'tracking device' ejector and prick the two with it. Ever so slowly, Donald and Goofy moved to join us as well, but the former held the latter back a few feet, so that they weren't standing right next to us.

"Wait a second.", Sora said, stopping dead in his tracks. "Where's Kairi?"

"Oh yeah.", I said. "Florina too.", I asked.

Riku turned around, a surprised look on his face. "Aren't they with you guys?"

"Yeah.", Windelle agreed as Yoris and Gregorio stopped hugging him and Riku and joined me. Sora just hung his head sadly. "Well, don't worry.", Windelle told Sora with a shrug, taking a short walk with Riku, who put one hand on Sora's shoulder and patted him on the back as he passed. "I'm sure they made it off the island, too."

"We know that.", I said. "Right, Sora?" He turned to me with a frown. "At least for Florina, that I am sure of."

The two silver-haired boys came to a halt a few feet behind us, glancing back. A smile appeared on Riku's face. "We're finally free.", he said. He then turned back around and looked up at Traverse Town. Both of them opened their arms up and closed their eyes and took in a deep breath. We all watched them carefully, Donald and Goofy especially as they didn't know what to expect, since they never met them before.

Suddenly, a couple of Shadows had appeared behind the two. The two didn't seem to notice as they continued talking.

"Hey, they might even be looking for us right this very moment.", Windelle told us lightly. "We'll all be together again soon. Don't worry. Just leave everything to us. I know this—"

He was interrupted by a couple of attacks. There was a slash, a shot, a skewer, and a blast. They then turned around to see Sora with the Keyblade, me with the DirLuxGun, Gregorio with his javelin, and Yoris with his cannon. After we had dealt ih the Shadows, Sora smiled and straightened, putting the Keyblade over one shoulder as he turned around to face the two. Gregorio rested his javelin on his right shoulder, Yoris and I rested our arms, our weapons pointed to the floor. I didn't call up my shield as I didn't need it. Upon seeing the shocked and confused expression on their faces, Sora grinned.

"Leave it to who?", he asked skeptically, an arrogant expression on his face.

Donald and Goofy moved closer. Riku furrowed his brow as he tried to figure out what exactly had happened.

"Guys, what did you—", He stuttered slightly as he spoke, still searching for the right words.

Sora lowered the Keyblade and smiled. "We've been looking for you guys too. They've been helping us as well." He gestured towards Donald and Goofy, who nodded in agreement, making their presence known to Riku and Windelle, who looked at them. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Who are they?", Windelle asked.

Donald smiled somewhat smugly and cleared his throat. "My name is Donald."

"I'm Goofy.", the knight said.

"We've visited so many places and worlds, looking for you.", Sora interjected.

Riku looked at us suspiciously and his eyes glazed over with an icy stare. Windelle's expression didn't seem to change.

"Really? Well, what do you know? Never would've guessed."

Goofy came up from behind Sora and put both his hands on his shoulders. Donald walked around Goofy and Sora to get to the other side. A classic grin spread across Goofy's face and he shook Sora gently in a proud, emphatic gesture. Sora could hardly help but smile.

"Oh, and guess what?", he said cheerily, addressing Riku. "Sora's the Keyblade master."

"Who would've thought it?", Donald added grumpily.

"What's that mean?", Sora snapped back as he turned to Donald.

"Didn't know you have a Gun of Light too, Windelle.", I said as I looked at the weapon.

"So that's what it's called.", he said. "I always thought it was called the GunDeLuna."

"I'm sure it's named that. Mine's the DirLuxGun. And Florina's…" I stopped upon remembering her. She was still missing. Not to mention Kairi. "Hers is the RefLuxGun."

"I see."

"So… this is called a 'Keyblade'?", Riku asked.

We all turned to him. Somehow, he now had the Keyblade in his hands. Sora was probably the most surprised as he looked into his now empty hand and groaned slightly. He then began to move toward Riku, reaching for the Keyblade.

"H-Hey! Give it back."

Riku jumped back swiftly as Sora began to lose his balance and fall flat on his face. Riku looked first at Sora and then back at the Keyblade, examining it closely. He then let out a breath of boredom. He turned his gaze back to Sora, who was only now starting to rise to his feet, and said, in a completely deadpanned tone, "Catch."

He tossed the Keyblade back at Sora, who caught it with both hands. Sora stared at it for a moment, stunned, then shook the thought out of his head looked back at Riku with a big smile.

"Okay, so, you're coming with us, right?", he asked excitedly. "We've got this awesome rocket! Wait 'til you see it!"

Riku looked at Sora for a moment, and then turned to look skeptically at Donald and Goofy. His eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze only turning icier. Windelle didn't so much as react, just looking around.

"No, they can't come!", Donald said.

We all turned to the duck, who was angry for some reason. Sora turned on Donald, stomping his foot on the floor. "What?"

"Forget it!"

"Oh, come on! They're my friends!"

"Yeah.", Gregorio agreed. "They don't have to come with **you **guys in the Excalibur. **Our** Destiny has room for two more."

"You can come with us, Ri—", I said as I turned to them, only to see that we were the only ones left in the district. "Huh? They're gone!"

Everyone looked up to see that indeed, Riku and Windelle were gone. Sora looked around the Third District, spinning in place. "Riku? Windelle?"

Gregorio look out a console of some kind and looked into its screen. Prior to leaving Deep Jungle, because of the split-up that happened when we entered the world, he had pricked tracking devices on each of us. He looked up the console and made a face.

"Strange…", he muttered.

Donald grunted, folding his arms over his chest and tapping one webbed foot on the floor. With one final look around, Sora willed the Keyblade away and clenched his fists at his sides.

"Nice going.", the Key Bearer said. Donald and Goofy glanced at each other, a remorseful expression on their faces, especially on the former. Just as Donald was about to apologize, Sora smiled as he scratched the back of his head. "Oh, well.", he said cheerily, putting his arms over his head. "At least he's okay." The sudden recovery caught Donald off guard. Sora glanced at us over his shoulder and grinned. "And who knows? Maybe we'll run into Kairi and Florina soon, too."

"Yeah.", I agreed, although I wasn't as happy as him.

KHKHKHKHKH

As per Cid's instructions, the six of us made our way to the small house that lay in the Third District. We bumped into Yuffie on the way, who led us to the new meeting place. On the way, she explained that we couldn't just meet on the street, the waterway, or at the inn all the time. I suggested the Refuge Asylum as a meeting place, but she said that all the rooms were full.

"This room will be our secret base.", Yuffie said brightly as she laid one hand on the doorknob. "It's nice and snug here."

The secret base was a small abandoned house. There were crates and boxes stacked up in one corner of the room, a layer of dust on top of them and the few empty shelves that jutted out from the wall. Surprisingly, there were quite a number of furniture despite its abandoned state. Apparently, its last occupants must have been in a terrible rush to leave.

There was a bed on the far end of the room, in good condition with its blankets draped over it and a small purple pillow against the headrest. Next to that was a tall wooden wardrobe with a small mirror hanging on one side. In the middle of the room was a small square table with several chairs tucked underneath, and a white tablecloth with a faded yellow floral design on. On top of the table was a small wicker basket with several boxes of food. On either side of the doorway was a large cabinet, the tops of which were adorned with several boxes and vases.

The blue-and-white zigzag wallpaper was in good condition too, save for the occasional peel, revealing wooden walls. A large, dusty sheet of cloth hung from the rafters near the bed. A single large, electric lamp hung on a thick cable from there too. A long cord dangled from the base of the lamp, serving as the switch. As soon as Yuffie opened the door leading into the small house, a deep, sullen atmosphere fell over us. Along with Cid, there were two other people in the room.

One of them was a fair young lady. She was dressed in a long pink and red dress and brown boots, a thin black choker around her neck, and many bracelets around her wrists. Her long, curled light brown hair was tied back into a ponytail with a red ribbon. She looked at us solemnly with soft, sea-green eyes as we came in.

The other was a man who wore leather boots, a leather jacket, pants tied to him by a series of belts wrapped around his waist, and leather gloves, all black. Similar, but smaller brown belts were around his lower left arm. He wore an off-white shirt underneath his jacket, making the lion-shaped pendant he wore more visible. The symbol on the pendant was also found embossed in red on the sleeves of his jacket. The man's spiky brown hair shaped itself around the collar as it hit his shoulders, his bangs over his blue eyes.

The man leaned against the wall with his eyes shut, and Cid stood a few feet away from him with his arms folded and his eyes to the floor. The lady sat on the edge of the bed, staring sadly into her lap after she looked at us. No one said a word as we entered with Yuffie.

"Kinda… gloomy in here…", Yoris said as we glanced around nervously.

Even Yuffie began to get nervous as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "Uh, guys? What's going—"

"Maleficent's in town.", the man said sternly, not looking up.

The young ninja's eyes widened with shock. "What?"

"Maleficent?", Goofy echoed.

"Yeah, you guys ever hear of her?", Cid asked us gruffly, turning around to look at us.

We all looked to one another, then turned their eyes back to Cid and the others. While everyone else shook their heads in perfect unison, I said, "I could swear I've head of her before." All eyes turned to me, making me feel nervous. "But I can't be certain. Ever since arriving around these parts, a lot of my memories have been fuzzy."

"Who is she?", Sora asked Cid, his subject on Maleficent.

Cid looked at us as though we were crazy. "A witch, man, she's a witch!"

"A witch?"

Goofy scratched the side of his head. "Y'mean like Merlin?"

"No. Not like Merlin.", Yuffie said.

"She's the reason this town is full of Heartless.", the man told us evenly, then raised his head to look Goofy straight in the eye. "Don't take her lightly."

The captain of the guard swallowed hard, his eyes growing wide. "A-hyuck."

The lady then crossed the room to join us. "She's been using the Heartless for years."

"It's 'cause of her that our home world got shattered.", Yuffie said firmly, her voice trembling. She clenched her fists at her sides, biting back tears as she shut her eyes and turned away.

"Nine years ago, a swarm of Heartless took over our world.", Cid explained. "I got outta that mess and came here with these guys. I took pity on 'em and grabbed 'em by the diapers on the way off world."

The whole time, we had been growing sympathetic as we listened. Goofy removed his hat and fiddled with it anxiously while Donald crossed his arms in irritation and tapped one foot on the floor. Gregorio and Yoris stood there stunned and unresponsive. Sora gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he took quick breaths through his nostrils. I knew I was supposed to feel sad, but I was never always expressive with my feelings and just stood there, not trying to smile at least, which would be inappropriate.

"You don't say…", Sora muttered.

"No good dirty rotten witch.", Donald grumbled under his breath.

The man drew in a breath before continuing. "Our ruler was a wise man named Ansem. He dedicated his life to studying the Heartless."

_So these are the people Zell overheard about the stuff about the report and Keyblade from._, I realized.

Cid nodded. "His report should tell us how to get rid of the Heartless."

"Where's this report?", Sora asked them.

We all suddenly looked at him, eyes wide. Sora didn't seem bothered at all by the shocked expressions on our faces and merely returned our stares without flinching. The two people I haven't identified by name looked at each other for a moment. The man drew in another breath and answered.

"We don't know. It got scattered by his accomplice Stickee when our world was destroyed."

"Stickee?", Sora asked. "Who's that?"

"Other than his name, that's all we know about him. I'm sorry."

"Maleficent seems to demonstrate a certain interest in Ansem's report.", the lady said. "I'm sure that she's gotten most of the pages of it by now."

"Wait a second.", I interrupted as I turned to Yuffie. "You never introduced us to them."

"Oh, silly me.", the ninja said as she slapped her forehead. "The lady in pink is Aerith and the man over there is Squ—"

"Leon.", the man cut in in correction.

"Oh, right. Leon. And guys, the three companions with Sora, Donald, and Goofy are…" She gestured to the three of us. "Yoris, Gregorio, and Rael."

"So, anyway…", Cid asked as he stretched his body. "You delivered that book?"

Sora looked at Cid over his shoulder and then grinned. "Sure did." He then crossed the room, a wide grin across his face.

"Great job, kid!", he laughed, putting one hand on Sora's head and messing up his hair.

"Hey, cut it out!"

The Key Bearer laughed as he swatted the burly man's hand away. Leon, Donald, Gregorio, and I groaned at the display, somewhat annoyed, while Yuffie and Aerith merely smiled in amusement. Goofy and Yoris held nothing back as they let out a laugh.

As soon as Cid withdrew his hand from his head, Sora ran a hand through his hair.

"Anyway, that navigation gummi's installed and ready to go.", Cid went on, turning to Donald. "If you find another one, you bring it to me. I threw in a warp gummi for the heck of it."

"Warp gummi?", asked Yoris.

"It lets you jump to worlds you've been to before." The man stretched again. "Well, better get back to my real job."

He then turned to move toward the door, taking his leave. We watched him curiously as he walked away.

"Your real job?", Goofy asked.

"Working in the Accessory shop isn't your real job?", Yoris asked.

Cid turned around and winked. "You'll see. I'll be at the First District."

After looking at one another and shrugging our shoulders, we started to follow Cid.

"Oh Cid, wait.", Aerith called.

We all turned around to look at Aerith, who looked at Yuffie with a nod, stood up from the bedside and crossed the room to join the others.

"I've been thinking about the bell in the Second District."

"That one that rang a while ago?", I asked.

"The one above the gizmo shop.", Yuffie explained as she joined us. She then added with a mischievous smile. "There's a legend about it, you know."

"A legend, huh?"

"But it's all boarded up.", Aerith continued. "Nobody can get in there."

"Heck, go check it out.", Cid said with a scoff. "Ring it three times to see if anything happens."

"Why three times?", Yoris asked.

"It's part of the legend.", Yuffie explained. "I forget exactly how it goes, but it's something like…" The ninja put one finger to the side of her head as she thought. "Oh, I forget. But you ring the bell three times, and something's supposed to appear."

"Something good or something bad?", Donald asked.

Yuffie shrugged. "Not really sure."

"Well, that's just perfect." Donald folded his arms over his chest, grumbling.

"Oh come on, Donald.", Sora said with a laugh. "Let's just go check it out."

We said our goodbyes to Leon and company and made their way to the Second District. Cid had given instructions on how to get to the bell before he split ways and went to the First District.

"Before we go to the bell tower, would you like to see Wakka and the others? They'd be happy to see you."

Part IV. Two Visits

We made out way to Refuge Asylum, went up the stairs to the second floor, then made our way to room 10 where Sora's island friends were. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to be there.

"Strange.", Gregorio thought out loud.

"Maybe they're with Irvine and the others.", Yoris suggested.

We headed for room 8, and once we entered, everybody was there.

"Sora?", Tidus asked as he got up from the bed. Next to him were Wakka and Selphie. Zell was leaning at the portal door that led to the waterway. Irvine was seated on the floor next to Selphie. Quistis and Rinoa were at the table, putting on some tea for everyone.

"Wakka! Selphie! Tidus!", Sora gasped as they came to hug each other. They kept at this for about a minute before Irvine decided to speak up.

"Hey there guys? Who are these?", he asked me.

"Oh. Almosrt forgot." I gestured to Sora and King Mickey's men. "These are Sora, Donald, and Goofy."

"Hey there.", Sora greeted.

"Hey.", Irvine greeted.

I then introduced him, Rinoa, Zell, and Quistis to Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"Uhh…just a curious question, but…what's your story?", Sora then asked. He, Rinoa, Zell, and Quistis just turned to face one another, stared for a long while, then nodded.

"This story might take a while, so if you don't have the time…"

"It's okay.", said Goofy.

KHKHKHKHKH

nightelf37: Sorry to interrupt this fanfic, but their story, and a few other info will be in the next chapter.

Bertie: Why?

nightelf37: I don't want to interrupt the flow. Now back to the story!

KHKHKHKHKH

After the story, which took about half a hour, we left the Refuge Asylum, making our way to the Gizmo Shop at the Second District. It wasn't too surprising that we encountered several groups of Heartless on the way and inside. They seemed to have gotten stronger since the last time we battled in Traverse Town, and as we've seen before, the Shadows had been joined by other kinds of Heartless. In addition to the "Musical Wizards", where was also a new kind of Heartless that about as big as Sora, dressed from head to curled toe in brown leather pilot clothes, and were capable of floating around. Even so, we weren't fazed as we too have gotten stronger since last time.

"Air Soldier.", the Diary said after one battle with them. "Winged Heartless. They fly over their enemies and dive to strike them. Their high endurance and quickness make them tough to beat."

"Got that right!", Donald complained.

The next wave, however, had the Air Soldiers wielding blowguns on their hands. We took them on as always, but some of us were hit by the resulting darts. After the battle, we quickly escaped the interior of the death trap to rest and recuperate against the wall. However, Yoris, Gregorio, and Goofy were suffering from a certain condition. No matter how many times Sora, Donald, and I cast Cure, they kept getting weaker and weaker. I then realized that this was the Poison condition Merlin once talked about. I dismissed my shield, held out my right hand, and invoked, "**Esuna!**"

A white-yellow beam of light escaped my hands and bee-lined right at our Poisoned companions. The beam hit them, making their bodies glow a pale yellow for an instant before fading away, leaving a faint twinkling of lights behind.

"Hey, I fell much better!", Goofy said.

"I feel like I could take on another wave!", Gregorio said.

"You guys were inflicted Poison by those Air Soldiers' blowguns.", I explained. "I remedied it with Esuna."

Donald then proceeded to cast Cure on all of us before we continued on our way. We opened the doors at the back and exited the Gizmo shop, winding up in the small, narrow alleyway behind it. Cid told us the bell was on the roof, so there had to be a way up. Goofy found a ladder propped up against the wall, leading to the roof. We then grabbed hold of the rungs and climbed up.

We clambered up to the rooftop, and then looked around. The rooftop was completely flat, and there was next to nothing to look at, save for the view of Traverse Town. There was a set of archways near the edge, facing out toward the district. Each of the pillars comprising the arches bore a small etching of a bell. On the other side of the roof were two large, wooden crates, leaning against the side of another building that looked like a church with its large, stained glass windows lined all the way down the side of the building. There was also a boarded up doorway.

We looked around cautiously, half expecting more Heartless to appear. And that's exactly what happened. Once they were quickly dealt with, Sora moved toward the boarded up area.

"Hey, what're you doin', Sora?", Gregorio called after him.

"Aerith said that the bell's all boarded up.", he replied with a calm shrug.

"You're actually looking for the bell?", Donald asked him incredulously.

"What? You didn't think I was serious?"

Goofy shrugged his shoulders. "Not really."

"Of course not!", the duck retorted, folding his arms over his chest.

"I didn't care.", I admitted.

Sora laughed. "Well, I was! I wanna know what'll happen if we ring the bell three times."

"Your curiosity is gonna get us all in trouble.", Donald warned. "Again."

The Key Bearer just shrugged and smiled. Sora peered into the doorway through the cracks in the wood. After a while, he turned to us.

"The bell's behind here.", he declared. "Looks like we've gotta break through the wood."

Donald tilted his head to one side. "Break through? How?"

"Leave that to me.", Yoris said as he aimed his cannon at the door.

"Uhh…I was actually thinking of all of us ramming it.", replied Sora. "I wouldn't want the bell to get broken."

"You can't be serious!", I cried out.

KHKHKHKHKH

Donald and Yoris were first to hit the door, followed by Sora and me, and then Goofy and Gregorio. Our combined force broke the door open and we all tumbled forward onto the floor and on top of each other.

"Let's not do that again.", Yoris complained.

"Yeah.", I agreed as we all got off of each other.

Meanwhile, Sora was much too distracted by what he found. Hanging about four feet over their heads was a large golden bell with an old, worn rope dangling from it at about eye level with Sora. He reached over and touched the rope before slowly gripping it in one hand. He then took a deep breath and pulled it.

The large bell rumbled in place, bits of dust and rotted wood raining down on our heads. We all covered our heads, Goofy and I using our shields.

Sora then took the rope into both hands and pulled at it as hard as he could. The rest of us escaped from the narrow doorway as its entire frame shook from the vibration of the bell, and scrambled back out toward the edge of the roof.

As the bell began to ring melodiously, we saw something happen to the fountain at the other end of the district. Orange and red flames suddenly began to dance on the water's surface, licking the bottom edge of the tile mosaic, which was an image of brightly colored flowers. Then suddenly, the mosaic shifted, spinning around in place to reveal another side of itself. The new image was a tile mural depicting an underwater scene. Several underwater wildlife could be seen. The block settled into its new position with a loud click and thud, the flames quickly dying out.

"Wow.", Donald and Goofy said in awe.

"Beautiful.", Gregorio and Yoris said.

_Mermaid._, a voice came in my head. "Huh?"

Shaking off the thought in my head, I turned back at the bell. Sora stood frozen for a moment there, then let out a disappointed breath and released the rope from his grip. He then glanced at us as we stared over the edge of the roof, frozen in place. Scratching his head in confusion, he took a few steps toward us.

"Guys, what're you—"

"Pull the rope again!", Gregorio ordered.

Sora stopped in place and blinked. "W-What?"

"C'mon, Sora, just do it!"

With a shrug of his shoulders, Sora moved back into the doorway and took the rope back into his hands. He then pulled down on the rope once more as hard as he could and immediately hurried to join us at the roof edge.

The carved decoration that outlined the tile mosaic around the fountain suddenly began to glimmer and light up like they were really small, colorful light bulbs. They all lit up in waves, one set after the other. At the same time, the mosaic spun around again, revealing yet another hidden side of it. The new picture was of two green, leafless trees side by side in the midst of a blue gray forest. Their branches stretched up and intermingled at the top. Nestled in by the roots of both trees were two small, brown mushrooms. As soon as the mosaic clicked into place, the lights around the fountain blinked out.

"Ohhh, I see. Now I get it.", Sora realized. "Why didn't you guys just tell me something was happening?"

We all looked at one another, not knowing what to say in response.

"Uhh…oops?", I replied.

Sora rolled his eyes with a grin as he headed went back to the bell. "Oh well. Let's go for a third time!"

Goofy grinned. "Maybe the legend is true, and something really will appear."

"Let's just hope it's nothing bad.", Donald said with a grunt.

Gregorio, Yoris, and I nodded in agreement. Sora grabbed hold of the rope, then pulled down on it one more time. He then quickly moved to join us as we turned our attention back to the fountain. This time, jets of water shot upward from within the fountain. A thin cloud of mist formed around the fountain as once again, the mural changed. It spun around to reveal a mosaic of a single rose, surrounded by butterflies.

The mist then thickened and something else began to happen. The mosaic suddenly changed again, glowing deep violet, and a large keyhole appeared in the center of it. The water jets suddenly stopped spouting, and the mist ltimately dissipated into the air. We jumped to our feet, surprised that Traverse Town had a keyhole.

Part V. Jia and the Opposite Armor

Together, we descended the rooftop and walked to the fountain. Having defeated the majority of the Heartless that inhabited the area, we had no problems getting there. However, we couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen.

We halted about ten feet away from the fountain and just stood there, staring at the keyhole.

"I wonder why that bell was boarded up.", Sora wondered out loud.

"Good question.", Donald said quietly. "I'd like to know, too."

_I have a bad feeling about this._, I thought to myself.

Sora summoned the Keyblade and aimed for the Keyhole, ready to seal it. Just then, it happened.

The Guard Armor sudden fell from the sky, plopping down with a heavy thud inbetween us and the keyhole. Its head piece was still the last to fall, dropping on top of the armor. This time, it was purple-and-black, not in the primary colors like last time. The pieces of armor clanked together as they moved forward, having already assembled into proper formation. We jumped backward slightly and looked up at the Guard Armor in shocked annoyance.

"This guy again!", Donald and Gregorio cried out as they pulled out their weapons. They then turned to each other and asked, "You guys seen it before?"

"Yeah!", Yoris and Goofy answered Donald and Gregorio repectively.

"At Third District!", Sora added.

"At First District!", I added about the same time. "Who knew?"

We charged forward, weapons on the ready. We defeated it within a minute, both because we were stronger now and because there were **six** of us. It wasn't long before the armor collapsed in a heap, falling loudly to the floor. We jumped back to avoid being crushed beneath the pieces and stared at it in surprise.

"That was…easy.", Sora mumbled, still in shock.

Donald narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his weapon. "Too easy."

"Well that can't be it.", Gregorio said, then turned to Sora. "I don't think it's over yet."

Just as he said those words, the pieces began to twitch and shake. They started to rattle loudly for a moment, and then all at once, everything flew back up and formed the Guard Armor once again.

"You just had to say it, didn't you?", Donald scolded.

Then, it suddenly began to invert; its hands became its feet, its feet became its hands, and even the torso flipped over in place. The head then flipped around, floating upwards…but it didn't seem to return. As the feet made adjustments to become more hand-like, something else came down in place of the head.

It seemed to be a giant version of the Guard Armor's face guard, but on it was—

"Yi?", Yoris gasped.

"No, but I'm from the same group as him.", the man said. "I'm Jia. Thanks for showing this town's Keyhole for me. Now, with this Opposite Armor, in revenge for my comrade's death, you shall fall to the darkness!"

The Opposite Armor readied itself immediately, extending its new arms forward and performing a full body ram, dragging its legs over the ground as it flew across the area. We all jumped and rolled out of the way, yelling out loud. The armor then swung itself around in a U-turn and came back for us, and this time managed to knock Goofy, Sora, and Yoris flat on their backs. Sora groaned as he raised himself slowly, rubbing his back.

"This isn't good at all.", I complained.

As the armor swung around, I saw Jia then extend his hand outward. All of a sudden, rocks erupted from the ground and hit us. They didn't seem to be as hard as ordinary rocks, and then I realized this was Quake, an earth-element spell.

As I fired at Jia, aiming at the Opposite Armor should I miss, Sora had backed against the wall near the fountain…and the keyhole. Sora then jumped forward and ran toward the front of the fountain, pointing the tip of the Keyblade at the keyhole. And nothing happened.

"The barrier's up again!", Yoris told Sora as he backed away from Opposite Armor. Around us, the air seemed to shimmer a bit. Yoris was right.

"Look out!", Goofy yelled as the armor stopped dealing with him and made a sudden charge straight at Sora, who was knocked painfully into the wall.

The Key Bearer fell to the floor with a pained groan, Keyblade still in his hands. After a moment, he raised himself slowly, shaking his head. He then ran at the Opposite Armor and slashed wildly at it, joining the brawl. Donald was hitting it with every magic spell he knew while Sora went completely berserk, relentlessly barraging the armor with his flurry of attacks. As for Goofy, he kept turning himself into a tornado and spinning around wildly with his shield stretched out, whacking the armor viciously every time it came into contact with him.

Yoris was barraging the Heartless and Jia with fireballs, although he hept missing, and Gregorio kept trying to jump at the head, but kept being parried away by the halberd wielder. Meanwhile, I shot cautiously, healing the others when necessary. However, it was almost as if the armor was somehow deflecting our attacks, as nothing seemed to faze it.

Goofy jumped back slightly and frowned, swallowing hard. "Are we winning? I can't tell."

"Neither can I.", Sora answered as he swung the Keyblade once again. "Man, I hate this thing. It can fly!"

"Got any bright ideas on how to beat 'em, Sora?", Donald asked gruffly.

Sora made a face. "Not a clue."

"Well for now, we'll just keep hitting, right?", Goofy suggested.

"Well, that's all we could do.", Gregorio said. "I just can't knock Jia off the armor."

After a while of taking whatever damage we dealt to it, the Opposite Armor separated its pieces into groups. The legs that had once been arms floated off in one direction, with the torso platform floating in between them, leaving the rest of the body to continue trying to ram is into the surrounding walls. Sora jumped back, running up the nearby set of stairs, and watched the arms with me as I moved to the side.

The leg-arms began to come together and then started to spin like an electric fan's blades and head straight for our companions, who were struggling with Jia and the arms that had once been legs.

"Guys! Look out!", I cried out.

The four turned around to see the legs spinning straight for them. They all jumped either left, right, or over in Gregorio's case as he then aimed his javelin down at the torso. He landed on top of it and was trying to maintain his balance so as not to fall inside. I figured he didn't want to figure out the armor's interior.

As the pieces slowly started to put themselves together, Jia's platform reached the lancer and Jia himself was about to attack when Gregorio pulled his javelin out of the armor and lunged at him, knocking him off the platform and sneding both of them to the floor. As both of them tumbled and rolled across the floor, the rest of us dealt with the other parts of the Opposite Armor as the head that vanished minutes earlier suddenly came back, only it face plate was opened, revealing yellow eyes within. (4) As for Jia's platform, it fell to the floor with a thud and stayed there.

As Jia and Gregorio got themselves off each other and were clashing against each other, the Opposite Armor rearranged its pieces again, the torso raising itself slightly so that the bottom was visible to the rest of us. As we looked on, a bright light shone from deep within the torso, getting brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding. I realized what it was and ran for it.

"Huh?", Sora wondered as I went to the side. "What's—"

The light exploded outward from within the torso and shot straight at him and the others. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Yoris were sent flying and they hit the duelling Gregorio and Jia, sending the six of them tumbling across the concrete floor.

"Definitely not a smart move.", Yoris grumbled as they lay on the floor.

The armor rearranged itself again, returning to normal, its head over the torso where Jia's platform used to be, and began to walk slowly toward the six. Jia quickly got up and, deciding to let the armor deal with the ones near him, headed straight for me. I quickly went on the defensive as he started jabbing with his halberd. All the while, the Opposite Armor was approaching my fallen comrades.

Suddenly, one of my Power Orbs seemed to glow. As I impulsively turned my gun to shoot, the resulting beam then turned into a boomerang. It struck Jia first, then turned straight for Opposite Armor. Taking advantage of Jia's distraction, I cast Blizzard on Jia, shooting ice at the man, freezing him in his tracks. I turned to see Opposite Armor head for me. I saw a burn mark on it, probably where my boomerang-like shot hit it.

Meanwhile, Donald and Sora cast Cure on themselves and their companions and charged right behind the armor. As it reared one arm-that-was-a-leg to strike me, Sora jumped up and knocked the offensive arm to the side, sending it cascading to a wall, much to everyone's surprise. The piece began to crumble apart and eventually, the entire piece of armor vanished, turning to purple dust and dissipating into the atmosphere.

"W-Whoa…", Sora gasped as the armor picked up Jia and distanced itself from us.

"How'd you do that, Sora?", I asked. I received a shake of the head. Apparently, he didn't know either.

We then turned around, looking for the Opposite Armor, only to find it on the other side of the square. Where the arm Sora destroyed used to be was Jia's platform, with him on it.

"You're strong. I'll give you that.", Jia said. "Let's see what you're made of!"

Despite losing one of its pieces, the Opposite Armor was still as hard as ever, flying through the air, ramming us into the walls, and shooting with its energy cannon. Eventually, we managed to take it down, piece by piece.

Soon enough, the head, torso, and Jia's platform were what remained. Seconds later, we dealt with that and Jia jumped off and landed on the ground. Behind him, both remaining pieces began to shake violently, the head then dropping on top of the torso with a loud clang. As both pieces began to glow, a Heart escaped from it and drifted away.

"I'll admit. I didn't see that one coming.", Jia said as the Opposite Armor crumbled and faded away. "Now you'll have to deal with me."

Jia spun his halberd around, then stabbed the ground with its lower end. The barrier seemed to shrink and we left it pass. Then, the barrier seemed to expand, taking in Sora, Gregorio, and me, but repelling the rest. After expanding for a while, it stopped. Everyone except me charged straight for one another. As Sora, Gregorio, and Jia clashed weapons with one another, I stood back, not wanting to kill a non-Heartless.

The fight wasn't long, and soon enough, as soon as I had the courage to look again, having turned away the whole time, I saw Jia back away, his hand to his chest.

"How…", Jia managed to say before falling to the floor. A pool of darkness began to form underneath his body and it absorbed him. However, he seemed to have left behind a small green scroll, although it wasn't of the shade the Cure scroll back at Deep Jungle had. A Power Orb was left too and Sora and I, after getting over Jia's demise, decided to pick them up. Sora took the scroll and it vanished, then a wind blew around him. I took the Power Orb and saw a tornado inside it, deducing that it was the Aero spell.

After all that, Sora approached the Keyhole. As soon as Sora had gotten within five feet of it, the tile mosaic flashed brilliant blue once more before dimming slightly. The Key Bearer drew in a breath before raising the Keyblade and aiming it at the keyhole. Right away, the end of the Keyblade glowed bright blue, and small stars appeared out of thin air and gathered around it. The Keyhole responded by outlining itself in a deep blue glow, and almost instantly, the Keyblade shot a beam of light at it.

After a brief moment, there was a loud clicking noise, and the keyhole stopped glowing completely. It then flashed blue one last time before cracks appeared on it and the keyhole seemed to crumble away into blue dust. We all watched as everything vanished, and the tile mosaic of butterflies hidden underneath was revealed once again.

Sora let out an audible sigh of relief. "Man, that was tiring…"

Goofy nodded in agreement as he walked to the fountain and peered into the water. The court wizard also let out a loud breath as he seated himself on the ledge of the fountain.

"You're tellin' me.", Donald agreed as we all went to rest on it.

Meanwhile, Goofy found something lying beneath the surface of the fountain water. He reached one hand into the water and picked it up, examining it, and then turned to us to show what he found.

"Look fellas! It's another one of those navigation gummis!"

We all turned to him, then the gummi.

"Hey, you're right!", Donald said with a smile.

"Good going, Goofy!", Sora told him, giving Goofy a pat on the shoulder.

Goofy scratched the back of his head in an embarrassed gesture. "Gawrsh, it was nothin'."

"Wait a second…", I interrupted. "We're supposed to go talk to Cid!"

"Oh yeah!", said Goofy, putting the navigation gummi away. He then laughed. "I sure hope he doesn't mind that we took a long time."

Part VI. Four Kids

Cid turned on us furiously the second we entered the First District. He folded his arms over his chest and snorted loudly.

"Took ya long enough!", he said. "Here I was, waitin' and waitin'. I was startin' to think that maybe you boys got lost on the way over here!"

Sora and Goofy laughed nervously at Cid's reaction. I also chuckled for a bit. The old store clerk huffed for a while before finally turning away. That's when we noticed that Cid wasn't in his shop. We were standing right in front of what once was an abandoned shop stand. The lights on the sign had been switched on and the once empty display was now filled with gummi blocks of every color, shape, and size. Donald and Goofy gaped at the variety that could be seen before us.

"What's with all these gummis, Cid?", Donald asked.

The shopkeeper turned to look back at us. His arrogant grin soon returned to his face as he put his fists on his hips.

"Well, now you know!", he laughed. "I'm in the gummi block business." He then relaxed and drew in a breath. "Workin' on your Gummi Ships sure was great. Come again and I'll give you a big discount. Oh, and here." Cid reached into the display case and picked up two brick-red blocks, which he handed to Donald and Gregorio with a smile. "Go ahead, take it. It's a special give away."

We looked at the gummi block, then thanked Cid before taking our leave.

"So… What now?" Goofy wanted to know.

"I gotta restock.", Donald told us matter-of-factly. "I'm out of Hi-Potions and low on Ethers. So I thought I'd stop by the shop before we take off."

"Somehow, I don't think Chip will want to be kept waiting for much longer." I turned to see Jiminy Cricket speaking.

The duck shrugged. "Ah, I can handle that little chipmunk."

"No, Donald. You should see how impatient he's getting. He's been getting into a fit and Dale's getting worried."

Donald halted right in front of the shop, then turned around to see Jiminy, whom we were all pointing to. He poked his head out of one of my backpack's side pouches.

"Jiminy! What are you doing here?", I asked.

"Like I said, Chip's impatience was getting to be a bit too much for me. So I thought I'd look for you guys."

"How'd you get down from the Destiny?"

"I was on the Excalibur with you, Yoris, and Goofy, remember?"

"No, you were on the Destiny with Sora, Donald, and Gregorio."

"Well, I found this in the Destiny while Chip and I waited." Jiminy took out a disc that almost looked like the ones Gregorio and Yoris had on their person. "I decided to peer inside and before i knew it, I fell in. I found out that I entered somewhere through this disc. I can't describe what it was like inside, but I managed to see a way out and realized I was in your bag."

"Then we probably shouldn't keep him waiting.", Sora said. "Maybe we should go back to the ship and get a move on."

"Supplies first.", I said. "If we don't get enough Potions and Ethers, we might end up in a bind and be in no condition to fight for long periods."

"You're absolutely correct, Rael!", Donald agreed as he pushed open the doors to the Accessory Shop and entered. Jiminy sighed as he left my bag and hopped onto Sora's shoulder.

"Donald!", Sora called as he entered the shop. "Come on, we really should be going."

"Is that…?", Yoris asked.

We all stopped as we turned to see something clearly humanoid crouched in the corner of the shop. For a moment, nobody moved as we stared at it, trying to verify what it was. It looked like a small wooden puppet in the form of a young boy. He wore a short-sleeved yellow shirt with a white collar and a light blue bow tie just beneath. Over that was a black vest and a pair of short red overalls with shiny golden buttons and a pattern of small green crosses running down the sides. On top of the puppet's dark hair, pressed by white gloved hands, was a large beige hat with a blue strap and a feather. As soon as Jiminy saw him, he jumped to his feet and smiled.

"Well, well, as I live and breathe!", Jiminy said with an amused chuckle. "If it isn't Pinocchio!"

We all looked at Jiminy in surprise as he hopped down and landed on the wooden floor. The puppet dropped his hands and raised his head so he could see who spoke to him. When he saw Jiminy standing a few inches away from him, he smiled.

"Oh! Hi, Jiminy!"

Nearly everybody widened their eyes in surprise. The puppet… could talk. Not only that, it could move of its own free will. Jiminy, on the other hand, seemed to be quite familiar with the puppet, as he was completely unfazed. I, on the other other hand, was accustomed to this. Encountering creatures made of darkness (Heartless), meeting with anthropomorphics (Donald and Goofy), seeing mythical beings (Phil, Cerberus), and lots of other stuff not seen in real life helped with this.

"What in the world are you doing down here?", Jiminy asked Pinocchio.

"Um…Playing hide-and-seek."

The cricket lowered his eyes to the floor and began to pace in circles, shaking his head. "I just don't believe it. And here I was, up all night, just worried sick about you. Why of all the–" Jiminy then looked up at Pinocchio and jumped back in surprise. "Pinocchio!"

Jiminy wasn't the only one, because as soon as he had begun to pace the floor, Pinocchio's nose had suddenly grown, lengthening straight out of his face with a small glittering of lights. Needless to say, none of us had been expecting this to happen. Pinocchio stared at his new, slightly longer nose in confusion, blue eyes crossed, making him look even sillier.

_A sapient puppet is one thing. But its nose growing is something else._, I thought. _I can't help but think that I've seen something like this in a fairy tale before…_

"Pinocchio! Are you telling me the truth?", Jiminy scolded.

Pinocchio nodded his head. "Yes!" His nose suddenly gained another two inches.

Jiminy narrowed his eyes at the puppet, then glanced to the side, noticing a small box on the floor just a few inches away from Pinocchio. The cricket pointed at it, looking back at the puppet.

"Then tell me, what is this?", he demanded.

Pinocchio's turned to the box, then back to Jiminy. "It was a present."

His nose instantly doubled in length. Small branches and leaves had grown on its tip.

"No fibbing, now!", Jiminy shouted, hopping up onto the puppet's feet and pointing his umbrella at him. "You know you're not supposed to tell lies. A lie only grows and grows, 'til you get caught!" He then tapped the tip of his umbrella on Pinocchio's nose. "Plain as the nose on your face!"

The puppet tilted his head to one side, confused. "But if you want something, why wait? Why not just take it?"

"Uh-oh.", Yoris grumbled. "Somebody's been a thief."

Jiminy looked shocked. "Oh, my! Who told you that? You need some advice from your conscience!"

"What did his conscience have to do with anything?", Gregorio asked nobody in particular.

Pinocchio smiled. "That's right! You're my conscience, Jiminy! I'll never tell lies as long as you're around."

"Looks like you got your answer, Gregorio.", Goofy said.

With that, the puppet's nose reverted to normal, shrinking back into his face with another twinkling of lights. Both cricket and puppet smiled at this, Pinocchio tapping the nose with one finger.

Jiminy hopped down from Pinocchio's foot. "You need to be good so you can become a real boy. You promised Geppetto you would be, right?"

"Oh! Do you know where Father is?"

The cricket turned to look at Pinocchio in surprise. "He's not with you?"

Pinocchio suddenly looked worried, then rose to his feet. "Jiminy, let's go find Father!"

"Now, hold on!", Jiminy said, raising one hand in the air. "There are all sorts of dangers and temptations out there! I'll go find Geppetto, so you just wait here." He then gestured toward us. "These fellows here will be helping me."

"We will?", Sora asked.

"How are you sure we're gonna help?", I said with an annoyed face. All eyes suddenly turned to me. Again. "Not to say we'll refuse."

The cricket nodded cheerily, smiling up at me, then hopped onto my shoulder.."Well, shall we go?"

"Whatever you say, Jiminy. You could've asked us first, though."

KHKHKHKHKH

"So Jiminy… You're Pinocchio's… conscience?", Sora asked.

The cricket was jotting down notes into his Journal. I was holding out my Diary and it seemed to hum. I presumed it was somehow updating its information. As soon as Sora had spoken to him, he looked up into the boy's face and smiled softly.

"That's right. The Blue Fairy herself appointed me as Pinocchio's official conscience. It's my job to teach him right from wrong and to be his guide. And if he can prove himself to be brave, truthful, and unselfish, then he can become a real boy!"

Goofy laughed slightly. "Sounds pretty tough!"

"Sure does.", Donald agreed with a slight scoff. "We're just meant to keep Sora company, and that's hard enough!"

Sora looked over at Donald sharply. "Hey!"

Donald merely grinned as we entered the Item Shop. We still needed more Hi-Potions and Ethers.

Behind the counter, next to the shelf, were the three ducks dressed in the primary colors of light as they stacked items into the shelves. The duck in red was holding a variety of items in his arms, which he was placing onto the higher shelves. The duck in green was standing on a small chair and was supporting the duck in red on his shoulders. The duck in blue held the chair, keeping it in place as he watched the other ducks carefully as they worked.

Donald grinned at the sight of them. "Hey boys!"

"Hi fellas!", Goofy greeted them cheerfully.

All three looked up at Donald at once, their eyes widening with surprise and smiles crossing their faces. Donald's grin widened and Goofy waved at them. Sora, Gregorio, and Yoris looked at Donald first, then at Goofy. He turned to the cricket, who was still on my shoulder for an explanation, but before Jiminy could even answer, the boys responded.

"Unca Donald!", they quacked in unison.

Sora was shocked. "**Uncle?**", he echoed.

"Uncle?", Gregorio echoed.

"Uncle?", Yoris echoed.

"…", I somehow said nothing.

In an instant, the three ducks suddenly tumbled down onto the floor, dropping their stuff. The ground shook slightly from the tumble and some of the items on the shelf began to wobble precariously in place. They soon settled back into place, and the boys began to carefully pick themselves up off the ground. Donald descended the stairs proudly, swinging his arms at his sides as he led the way into the shop. The rest of us trailed behind him, Sora in a mild daze.

"Donald's an uncle?", he asked. "How does that even work?"

"Doesn't seem like it fits, does it?", Jiminy mused along with him. "Well, life comes with all sorts of surprises."

Goofy looked at them and blinked. "Ya don't think he can be an uncle?"

"He doesn't really seem like the type.", Sora said with a shrug.

The captain of the guard laughed. "Well, wouldja believe that I'm a dad?"

"**You're a dad?**", Sora, Jiminy, Gregorio, and Yoris gasped in surprise.

"A-hyuck! Sure am! Someday I'll introduce ya!"

He then pat Sora on the back and hurried to join Donald, who was just helping his nephews to their feet. Shrugging, the rest of us walked in and stopped a few feet away from Donald, who glanced over his shoulder.

"Lemme introduce you guys. These three are my nephews. My sister's boys."

The duck dressed in red pointed to himself proudly. "I'm Huey!"

The duck dressed in blue pointed to himself as well. "I'm Dewey!"

The duck dressed in green smiled and waved. "And I'm Louie!"

"Wow, your names all rhyme.", Gregorio remarked.

"Triplets.", Donald said with a shrug. He then turned his attention back on the ducks. "Have you boys been watching the store properly?"

All three of them grinned. "Sure have!"

"So you own the shop, Donald?", I asked in surprise.

The duck wasn't able to answer as Jiminy interrupted him. "You mean, just you three boys are in charge of this store? All by yourselves? No adult supervision whatsoever?"

Dewey took offense. "Just because we're kids doesn't mean we can't run a business.", he said.

Sora nodded at that and turned on Jiminy with a wry smile. "Just because they're kids doesn't mean they can't do any grown up stuff."

Unable to reply, the cricket immediately sat back down on my shoulder and continued to write in his Journal.

"Sure is good to see you, Unca Donald!", Dewey continued, turning back to his uncle. "Buy a bunch from us!" He then gestured toward the items on the shelves. "I hand-picked everything on these shelves. We carry only the best!"

"Really?", Donald asked, a mischievous grin on his face. "The best, huh?"

As Donald moved closer to the counter to peruse the various items in the shelf (and in the pile on the floor), Dewey hopped up onto the counter top and watched his uncle carefully. Louie picked up everything that fell to the floor and put them on the shelves, while Huey moved around the counter, a large broom in hand, and began to sweep the floor. We all watched as they worked.

"So, what do you fellas do with the munny you earn?", Goofy asked Huey.

The duck in red glanced over at his brothers before answering. "We're gonna earn enough munny here to go on our own adventure.", he told us with a proud nod. He then turned to Donald. "Sorry, Unca Donald! No family discounts!"

Donald spun around to look at Huey, his jaw dropping. "Why not?"

Everyone began to laugh heartily at Donald's expense. Although I didn't, not seeing now it was funny. The duck fumed slightly as the triplets returned to their work. Dewey continued to prompt his uncle for what he was looking to buy. Donald turned on Dewey and tried to negotiate, but Dewey resisted stubbornly, still smiling.

"Not even a little bit?"

"No can do."

"Not even one percent?"

"Uh-uh."

"At least he's not charging **more** from you.", I tried to cut in.

"But I'm your uncle!" Doanld ignored me.

"No family discounts." Dewey ignored me too.

"But I'm your favorite uncle."

"That's what you think."

Donald narrowed his eyes. "I'll send you back to your Unca Scrooge's place."

"Like we'd complain about that.", chipped in Huey.

"Yeah.", Dewey continued. "Unca Scrooge takes us on adventures."

Donald glanced over at Huey, then turned back to Dewey. "Your mother's."

"Yeah, right!", Louie laughed. "Like you even know where she is."

The court wizard fumed as the triplets grinned at each other.

"Let's just pay them, Donald.", I said as I pulled out my munny bag from my pocket. I then widened my eyes from seeing how much munny we had earned throughout our travels. Sora took out a small bag as well and handed it to Donald. "I'm pretty sure we have enough." I handed my munny bag as well.

Donald held the two bags in his hands for a moment, then locked eyes with Dewey in a staring contest. After a long moment of silence, Donald blinked, losing the contest. Dewey and his brothers all grinned and cheered at their victory. Everyone else laughed quietly as Donald begrudgingly pulled out the munny and handed it over to his nephews.

"Unca Scrooge would be proud of your stinginess.", Donald muttered under his breath as he handed me some of the Hi-Potions to each of us for in-battle use, kept some and an Ether for himself, gave me and Sora one each, then offered the rest for me to store in my bag.

As soon as Donald turned around to leave, the three boys each raspberried at their uncle in unison. The duck spun around immediately, only to see them tending to the shop. The rest of us, save for Jiminy and Goofy, couldn't help but be impressed by the speed with which the triplet pranksters returned to what they had been doing. Donald eyed them suspiciously before turning around to leave again, muttering something under his breath. Goofy followed him out calmly. Sora began to follow as well, glancing over his shoulder and grinning at the triplets.

"Thanks for the stuff, guys.", he said.

Huey, Dewey, and Louie all grinned back. "You're welcome!"

We then moved to the door and exited the Item Shop, rejoining Donald and Goofy. Just as we did that, Jiminy jumped from my shoulder to Sora's and whapped the side of his head with his umbrella.

"Hey!", Sora complained, looking at Jiminy. "That hurt!"

"You shouldn't encourage their mischief, Sora!", Jiminy scolded.

"Aw, it's just harmless fun, Jiminy.", he said with a shallow shrug of his shoulders.

"He and Tidus once buried Riku and me in the sand while we napped on the beach.", Gregorio said. "I was shocked when I woke up to find the tide coming in at eye level. I gave the two a proper beating with a stick afterward."

Jiminy shook his head in disappointment. "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye."

"But come on. Nobody gets seriously hurt from a prank."

Donald suddenly slowed in his step and shuddered. We all looked at him and blinked in confusion. Sora and Jiminy looked at Donald expectantly. After a while, the duck glanced over his shoulder at us with a look in his eyes that was both threatening and terrifying.

"That's what you think.", the court wizard before he resumed walking.

"What? What's he talking about?"

Goofy rested one hand on Sora's shoulder, shaking his head slowly. "You don't wanna know, Sora."

I raised an eyebrow a bit, still not used to Goofy's occasional outbursts of solemnity.

"Were gorillas, witches, and ketchup-as-blood part of the pranks?", Yoris asked at random. "Not neessarily all at once."

Donald stopped in his tracks before turning to the cannoneer. "How did you know that?"

Yoris just raised his hands and shrugged his shoulders.

Gummi Ship Time: Upgrades and Thoughts

Gregorio, Yoris, and I were on the Destiny, waiting for the Excalibur to come up. Cid had done a really good job in improving the Gummi Ship. There were new stuff on the control panel, like a small radar screen and monitor, listing details of the worlds we already went to, such as its location and name.

"Wow.", Yoris said as he sat on the driver's seat. "Cid really knows his stuff."

He then activated the communications system, showing Donald on the controls, Goofy on snoozing, and Sora staring out into space.

"Hmm…Something's strange with Windelle.", Gregorio voiced out.

"Huh?", I asked, not paying attention.

"Yoris and I've known him for as long as I could remember, which is since arriving at the islands, although I think we were also friends before coming there."

"What are you trying to say?"

"…It's nothing. Never mind."

"For some odd reason, I feel like we're being used or something.", Donald muttered, not part of the conversation. "Don't you think that Leon and Cid would be able to do something more than just tell us what to do? If Cid has his own Gummi ship, shouldn't they be able to drive it somewhere?"

"I haven't a clue, Donald."

"Wasn't asking you, Gregorio."

"Oh, sorry."

I didn't know when, but before I knew it, I was asleep.

**Yuffie**

_A female ninja who escaped to Traverse Town when her home world was taken by the Heartless. She stays strong and cheerful in any situation. She works with Leon and Aerith to unravel the secret of the "key"._

_"Final Fantasy VII"_

**Cid -update-**

_Owner of an accessory shop in Traverse Town. A highly skilled engineer and a first-rate pilot. When the Heartless invaded his world, he escaped to Traverse Town on a gummi ship he'd built himself. He is an expert on gummi ships._

_"Final Fantasy VII"_

**Merlin**

_A great sorcerer living on the outskirts of Traverse Town. Merlin's wisdom and magic powers rank second to none, and he teaches Sora and his friends about magic. He has a mysterious bag that can hold anything, no matter how large._

_Merlin first tutored Arthur in how to be king in "The Sword in the Stone" (1963)._

**Fairy Godmother**

_A powerful but generous and good-hearted fairy who helps Sora and his friends. Slightly absent-minded, but an expert at magic. She gives Sora and the others lessons in magic as well as advice on their journey._

_She first appeared as Cinderella's fairy godmother in "Cinderella" (1950)._

**Simba **(5)

_The leader of the pride. He rules over the other animals of the Pride Lands, his savanna kingdom._

_He roared onto the scene in "The Lion King" (1994)._

**Baloo**

_A carefree bear who lives in the jungles of India. He may look like a free spirit, but he also cares for his friends._

_He sang about the bare necessities in "The Jungle Book" (1967)._

**Riku -update-**

_Islander. A self-confident youth always competing with Sora. When the Destiny Islands vanished, so did he. By the time Riku reappeared, Sora had already found new friends, so Riku didn't rejoin him._

**Windelle -update-**

_A boy who lived on Destiny Islands. Ever since arriving on the islands with, Florina, Gregorio, and Yoris, he hung around with Riku. When the Destiny Islands vanished, so did he. However, something seemed to be suspicious about him._

**Leon**

_A swordsman who wields the Gunblade. His real name: Squall Leonhart. He escaped to Traverse Town when the Heartless raided his home world. To part with his old self, a man who had been helpless to stop them, he changed his name. Since meeting the king, who has been so vigilant against the Heartless, Leon has sought the truth behind the "key"._

_"Final Fantasy VIII"_

**Aerith**

_She lost her home to the Heartless at a very young age. Beneath her gentle disposition lies a strong will and a firm sense of duty. Many are naturally drawn to her. Aerith works with Leon and Yuffie to learn more about the Heartless and the "key"._

_"Final Fantasy VII"_

**Maleficent**

_A sorceress of awesome power. She controls the Heartless, and is said to have destroyed many worlds. No one knows what her true intentions are._

_She first appeared to curse Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959)._

**Opposite Armor**

_Heartless that guards the keyhole in Traverse Town. It is a modified form of Guard Armor, but is more powerful._

**Jia**

_A person who seems to have been related to Yi. He came with the Opposite Armor to attack the company in revenge._

**Pinocchio**

_He was crafted by Geppetto. The Blue Fairy brought him to life to answer Geppetto's prayers for a son. He must learn courage, kindness, and honesty to prove he's worthy to be a real boy. It's Jiminy's job to keep him out of trouble._

_There were no strings to hold him down in "Pinocchio" (1940)._

**Huey**

_One of Donald's three nephews. Huey is the leader, and he keeps playful Dewey and laid-back Louie in line. You can spot Huey by his trademark red cap._

_Huey began tormenting his Uncle Donald in "Donald's Nephews" (1938)._

**Dewey**

_One of Donald's three nephews. Always wears a blue cap. Cheerful and easygoing. He works with his brothers in a shop in Traverse Town._

_Dewey began tormenting his Uncle Donald in "Donald's Nephews" (1938)._

**Louie**

_One of Donald's three nephews. Works with his brothers in a shop in Traverse Town. Gentle and carefree, but notices a lot of things others miss. To find him, look for a green cap._

_Louie began tormenting his Uncle Donald in "Donald's Nephews" (1938)._

-See ya on Third.-

(1) In case it isn't obvious, the alley where I ended up at wasn't the same one Sora ended up at.

(2) I liked Mfripp's "Give Me Strength", so I'll be implementing his oneshots of the summons into mine. I'll also include the oneshots of 'my' summons from "Escape From The Heartless" into this. As for the latter, they take place in "Kingdom Hearts Remake 1" and not this "Retcon Version", so I'll be re-writing them here, and thus the new chapter.

(3) This is just my wild guess on Esuna's symbol. Cure's represented by a leaf, and both Cure and Esuna are healing spells, so I guessed Esuna's symbol would be this. Why a twig? It's the closest thing related to a leaf that I could think of.

(4) Short Brick Joke much?

(5) I thought it'd be ridiculous if I added in the game data, so I edited it out.


	10. Special 1: Final Fantasy VIII

nightelf37: Realizing it'd take too much space on the "Back to Traverse Town" chapter, I decided to make another one here. To keep up with the consistencies of chapter count in "Kingdom Hearts Remake 2", I'm naming this as a Special, just like what I did in "Shisno Chronicles: The Last Airbender".

Orie: Just like the Diary entries in the latter?

nightelf37: Something like that. Remember, only the OCs belong to me. So is anything not in the original Kingdom Hearts plot, although there will be a summary of a certain game listed in the title.

Special 1: Final Fantasy VIII

Part I. Heroes of Another Story

-The following events happen while at Room 8 of the Refuge Asylum in Traverse Town last chapter. The cut-off part continues here.-

After I introduced Irvine, Rinoa, Quistis, and Zell to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, the 'storytelling' began. They didn't know where to begin, so they decided to start with the one who brought them all together; a dear friend named Squall Leonhart, who went missing when the Heartless took over their world.

"What about Squall?", Sora asked. "Wait…"

"I remember the day of his SeeD field exam back at Balamb Garden.", Quistis interrupted his thoughts. "I was his instructor." Sora, Donald, and Goofy raised an eyebrow. "The exam was to retrieve the Guardian Force Ifrit."

"Guardian Force?", Donald echoed.

"A creature that enables people to use magic to enhance one's physical capabilities.", Zell explained. "In any case, he succeeded and Ifrit was taken in. Soon, Squall's final exam to become a SeeD was just around the corner. He was to go to the occupied city of Dollet. Accompanying him were me and our rival Seifer."

"Both of you were rivals of one guy?", Gregorio asked. "Doesn't that make the two of you rivals as well?"

"Well, not me exactly, but I didn't like that snob, and he never liked me either. During the mission, Seifer ran off and disobeyed orders and a girl named Selphie joined us in his place." We turned to Selphie. The one who was a native of the late Destiny Islands, of course. "The three of us accomplished our mission and graduated as SeeDs. Later that night, at the SeeD Graduation Ceremony, while I was missing out on hotdogs—"

"Rinoa, although we didn't know her personally at that time, managed to get Squall to dance with her, much to my shock.", Quistis interrupted. "In spite of the mission's success, I was relieved of my position as instructor. I had feelings for him, but at that time, he was a lone wolf."

Zell turned sternly at Quistis for interrupting him, then continued the story, "The next morning, Squall, Selphie, and I received our first assignment: to aid a resistance faction known as the Forest Owls in their quest to reclaim the independence of a small nation called Timber. For some reason, the three of us passed out and had a dream of three strange men. Once we came to, we met up with the Forest Owls, only to find that the girl who danced with Squall is a member."

"Who is that member?", Sora asked. I turned to him for his stupidity.

"Me.", Rinoa stated. "I was at the dance to enlist their help. Our plan was to abduct Vinzer Deling, the tyrannical president of Galbadia, and force him to withdraw his soldiers from Timber. However, while we managed to hijack his train, we confronted his body double."

"While the mission was a failure, we were under contract by our Headmaster Cid to assist the Forest Owls until Timber's liberation, not exactly something we were pleased to follow.", Zell continued. "Our next mission was to intercept the real president, who was going to the Timber TV station to make an announcement."

"We, the Forest Owls, tried to make a new plan, with our SeeD mercenaries watching from a distance. Squall requested to see the contract binding them to us, only to discover they were under my command as long as Timber remained under Galbadian oppression. While on our way to infiltrate the station, we had to ditch our plan. Squall expressed his group's doubt questioned my committment to my goals. We had an argument and I left."

"Anyway, Squall, Selphie, and I continued on our mission. When President Deling announced the Sorceress Edea as the nation's new ambassador, Seifer, who has gone rogue, showed up to assassinate him. Quistis came and called for our assistance. There was a fight, and then Sorceress Edea came and took Seifer away. With Garden's reputation at risk following the incident, we hid from Galbadian forces searching the town. Rinoa helped us lay low."

"On the way out of town, one of Rinoa's companions handed us train tickets for our route out.", Quistis continued. "With Garden's reputation at risk following the incident, we headed for Galbadia Garden." She then muttered, "Receiving that strange dream along the way."

Yoris raised a hand, "Sorry to interrupt, but what are these Gardens?"

"They are educational institutions in our world. Each Garden trains youths into becoming specialized military forces called SeeD."

"That's pretty hardcore, being trained to be soldiers at such a young age."

"Yeah. In any case, they were enlisted in a plot to assassinate the Sorceress, with the help of Galbadia's General Caraway," Irvine then indicated to himself. "And me." Gregorio, Yoris and I widened our eyes in response. "Yes. while I may seem to the the 'de facto' leader of this group, I was actually the last to join the circle back then. In any case, the assassination was planned to take place at Edea's inauguration parade in Deling City. Unfortunately, there was a…spanner in the works."

"The original plan was for me, Selphie, and Zell to trap her under the gateway she would be travelling past while Irvine sniped her from afar, Squall accompanying him.", Quistis said. "In an attempt to prove she was capable and serious about the resistance movement, Rinoa came up with a plan to suppress the Sorceress's power with an 'Odine Bangle', but I berated her as we left her behind. As the ceremony began, I began to feel guilty and headed back to apologize, only to get locked inside the Caraway Mansion. We managed to make it back to our position in time to trap the sorceress."

"By that time, I was gone and have infiltrated the Presidential Residence, offering the bangle as a gift.", Rinoa continued. "However, she seemed to know what it could do as I was then rendered under her control by a spell. I had placidly followed Edea out onto the pedestal where I was designated as a sacrifice for the ceremony. Edea summoned two Iguion statues to attack me."

"Erstwhile, during the ceremony, Edea killed President Deling and claimed Galbadia as her own.", Irvine told us. "Even as she did the deed in front of the people, for some reason, they didn't react negatively and even cheered. We rushed to our positions, saving Rinoa along the way, and waited as Edea got trapped under the Galbadian Gateway. However, as I aimed to fire at the Sorceress, I remembered who she was and has a small panic attack. After some encouragement from Squall, I took the shot, but Edea's magical barrier blocked it. Because of that, Squall decided to rush in and Rinoa and I followed. However, we also encountered Seifer, who had become her Knight. I can't remember what happened next, but I know that the mission was a failure, and everyone was sent to Galbadia's D-District Prison. But because of my affiliation with Galbadia Garden, I was allowed to go free."

"While we were imprisoned there, I had dreams of a certain person, who once worked at the prison we were now in.", Zell continued. "Using these memories, we tried to escape. Since I was the only one capable of fighting bare-handed, I retrieved their weapons from the guards. On the way, I was under attack by them, but Squall came to my rescue, who had been separated from us for interrogation."

"Meanwhile, while I managed **not **to go to prison, I received orders from General Caraway to pick up his daughter Rinoa from the prison. However, she **then** forced **me** to assist in the escape of the rest. We found them under a hail of fire from the guards. I took them down and bought them some time to escape. Shortly after, we all got out and we learned that because of the failed assassination on Edea, she has ordered Galbdia to target Trabia Garden in a missile attack. We inferred that Balamb would be next, and we split into two teams. Selphie's team was to go the the missile base in an attempt to stop the missiles, while Squall's was to warn Balamb Garden."

"Irvine and Rinoa accompanied Selphie while Zell and I followed Squall.", Quistis continued. "By the time we made it to the Garden, it was in an uproar; students fighting each other, some siding with the Headmaster Cid and some with the Garden Master NORG. After meeting up with Cid, he revealed that NORG funded the Garden's foundation and saw them as a profit venture. We eventually stopped the fight by defeating NORG. We also learned that the Garden is mobile and we moved it just in time before the Galbadian missiles hit."

"Obviously, our team failed in our mission.", Rinoa stated. "While in the base, Selphie activated the base's self-destruct mechanism in an attempt to stop the missiles. However, it was too late as the missiles were already fired. As we tried to escape, our path was blocked by the Iron Clad security robot. We managed to defeat it and its pilots and, seconds before the base's destruction, hijacked it to survive the blow."

"Meanwhile, because of long-term disuse of the steering mechanism, Balamb Garden was crashed into Fisherman's Horizon, a pacifist town built around a defunct train station in the middle of the sea. The local technicians worked on fixing the Garden's controls so we could leave as the Mayor didn't want us here. However, Galbadian soldiers entered the town in search of a woman named Ellone. The Mayor tried to reason with them but failed. We had to fight off the Galbadians, who deployed a (badly battered) machine called the Iron Clad to deal with us. After we defeated it, it fell to the water and out came Selphie's team."

"That Iron Clad was the very robot we hijacked when escaping the base.", Irvine said. "After repelling the Galbadians, Headmaster Cid placed the Garden under Squall's command. We held a concert just to lighten the load on his shoulders. I was in charge of the festival with Selphie as we prepared for the Garden Festival. While that was going on, I took the time to explore Fisherman's Horizon, tangling with a Galbadian soldier left behind on the raid along the way. I also found a warning bulletin issued on a suspicious man in a brown coat carrying a gun."

_I think that warning was about you._, I guessed to myself.

"In any case, the festival was a success.", Rinoa said. "When the Garden returned to Balamb, where it was once situated close to, we found the town was under siege by the Galbadians under the search of Ellone. We encountered Seifer's cronies Raijin and Fujin. Affter sending them out of the town, we headed for Trabia Garden."

"During our time there, I slowly led them to remember our past.", Irvine continued. "All of us, except Rinoa, but including Seifer, once lived in an orphanage together, cared for by a woman named Edea. They had forgotten about it and their childhood there because of the long-term use of Guardian Forces. I retained my memories because while I have ended up using GFs myself upon joining them, Galbadia Garden focuses on military technology and thus doesn't rely on Guardian Forces and I haven't been using them for years like the rest."

"Wait.", Donald said. "Is this Edea the same as the Sorceress you guys once attempted to assassinate?"

"Yes. I didn't have a nervous breakdown during the assassination plan; I remembered her and was afraid to kill her. In spite of that, I knew, and so did the others, that we had to take her down."

"There, I realized my feelings for Squall were actually not that of love but of 'sisterly caring'.", Quistis interrupted. Irvine turned his eyes to her for a second, then continued.

"After paying our respects to Selphie's friends in Trabia Garden, we decided to head for the Centra continent to where our orphanage was, but we encountered my former Garden, which was now mobile like Balamb's, and was under Edea's command. Our Gardens clashed and a battle ensued."

"During the fight, Galbadia Garden rammed into Balamb Garden, sending Rinoa falling down the edge and clinging to it for dear life.", Zell continued. "Unable to help her, I informed Squall about this, telling him the only way to get to her was by flying or going over the roof. He was about to give up on her when we forced him to go save her. Before leaving for her, he gave a final announcement over the P.A system. At this point, Squall was a changed man, going from lone wolf to born leader."

"Squall came to my rescue on a paratrooper's armored hover-suit, and I grabbed onto its emergency cable as we landed on Galbadia Garden.", Rinoa continued. "We soon rejoined the rest of our team along the way and encountered Raijin and Fujin once more, but they let us pass without incident as they were too tired to fight."

"Probably from fighting in the battle themselves.", Gregorio muttered.

"We made it to the Headmaster's office where we faced off against Seifer. After we defeated him, Edea, who was in the room at that time, shifted through the floor to the Auditorium."

"We followed her and faced off against our former Matron.", Quistis continued. "Upon her defeat, ending the battle, it turns out that she was possessed by a Sorceress from the future named Ultimecia. After the battle, Rinoa was rendered comatose as Ultimecia then possessed her, although we didn't know that at the time. We returned to the orphanage to speak with Edea about Ultimecia where we learned of her plans for Time Compression."

"Time Compression?", Sora asked.

"Time Compression is the concept of condensing all of time and space into a single moment. It's very hard to explain. After finding out that the woman Ellone was the cause behind our dreams, Squall wanted to seek out Ellone to help him revive Rinoa. At first, after we found the White SeeD, who told us she was at Esthar, Squall docked Balamb Garden against Horizon Bridge, where Fisherman's Horizon was built close to, and ventured alone with Rinoa on his back. I think you can tell that by this point, Squall has strong feelings for Rinoa, right?" We all nodded in response.

"We, accompanied by Edea, beat him to the Esthar continent on Balamb Garden and berated him for not trusting his friends. That is, of course, us.", Irvine stated. "We then managed to locate Esthar, which was hidden by a cloaking device to protect its city from invaders. We entered the city and met with Dr. Odine, who told us that Ellone was in the Estharian space station, Lunar Base, which orbited our world in the same scope as our moon."

"Squall and Quistis went to the Lunar Gate, Rinoa in tow, to get to the space station while the rest of us stayed behind to protect Edea, who joined us, believing herself to be a threat so long as she can be controlled by Ultimecia.", Zell continued. "We headed back to Dr. Odine in his lab, where we learned that the Lunatic Pandora, a monstrous, hovering black monolith, was looming close to the city controlled by the Galbadian army. Dr. Odine and I got into an argument about time constraints before I decided to lead the team in an attempt to board the structure. We were repelled by an invisible force as the colossal structure continued to proceed over a location known as Tears' Point, and triggered the Lunar Cry, sending monsters from the moon to here, which then attacked the city."

"Erstwhile, up in space, we met up with the base's leader, Piet, who explained Adel's suspension seal. Adel is a Sorceress who ruled over Esthar before being sealed away. We talked to Ellone, and Squall tried to use her gift to go back into Rinoa's past to find out what happened to her. As they talked, Rinoa woke up, although she wasn't herself. We saw her put on a space suit, go out into Adel's Tomb and release the Sorceress inside. Ultimecia then possessed Adel, who was then brought down via the Lunar Cry, leaving Rinoa for dead. The Lunar Base was drawn near the moon and we evacuated it. I was reunited with Zell and the others."

"Some time later, a spaceship called the Ragnarok landed, and from it came Squall and Rinoa, finally conscious once more.", Irvine continued. "However, upon landing, Rinoa was taken by Esthar officials to contain her new Sorceress powers in a new tomb on Sorceress Memorial. While Rinoa, scared of her new powers, allowed herself to be sealed, we didn't want it to happen, especially Squall, and we came to her rescue on the Ragnarok. We then returned Edea to the orphanage, then prepared to head for the Lunatic Pandora, where Seifer had kidnapped Ellone to further Ultimecia's plan."

"We discussed Ultimecia's plan with Dr. Odine.", Rinoa continued. "Ellone's ability to send the consciousnesses of others into different eras of time had been used by him at some point in the future to create the Junction Machine Ellone." We were all getting confused because of 'time travel tense' issues and they saw us struggling to understand. "Ultimecia was using the Junction Machine to reach back in time to connect and take over the bodies of Sorceresses so that she could exist in all eras of time. However, the machine had its limits, and Ultimecia decided to find the real Ellone, so that her consciousness would simultaneously exist in the past, present and future. With her mind present in all eras of time, Ultimecia would finally be able to achieve Time Compression and become an omnipotent deity able to fully control all time, space and existence."

Donald groaned, pausing the storytelling. "All this talk of crossing time, even if just through the mind is making my head spin. In fact, it's making my head spin even more."

"Sorry.", Quistis apologized. "We had such problems too. With these revelations, we formed a plan with Dr. Odine, and Laguna, somebody we had 'seen' in dreams thanks to Ellone, who was now President of Esthar, to stop Ultimecia. The plan was to wait for Ultimecia to possess Adel. We would then defeat her, so she would pass her powers onto Rinoa, making her the only Sorceress left in our present who Ultimecia could exist within. With Ultimecia inside Rinoa, Ellone would send both of their minds into the past, allowing Ultimecia to cast Time Compression. Ellone would then bring back both of their consciousnesses and send them back to their respective eras, temporarily stopping the spell."

"Oww.", Sora groaned. "I'm getting lost from all this talk of mental time travel."

"After discussing the plan, Laguna then told us that the only way to survive in a universe of compressed time, we would have to keep our bonds strong by remembering each other and thinking of a place we were all connected to and wanted to travel to.", Zell continued. "We would then be able to survive through Time Compression, and with our love and faith in each other make it to Ultimecia's future and defeat her. Our plan prepared, we made our way to Lunatic Pandora on the Ragnarok, piercing its defenses and making our way inside, where we confronted Seifer. Raijin and Fujin were there as well, trying to convince him to stop. He ignored their pleas and did battle with us."

"During the battle, one of our Guardian Forces, Odin, arrived.", Quistis said. "Unlike most of our GFs, who come at our calling, he sometimes arrives at random in times of trouble to instantly vanquish any monsters we encounter. In this battle, he rushed at Seifer to do just that. However, Seifer managed to somehow slice him in half, and Odin's sword was sent flying. We were almost frightened by what he just did, as it took us twenty minutes to beat him and be our Guardian Force and Squall's rival just cut him in one blow. A long while later, a mysterious man named Gilgamesh came into the scene. He was almost as big as Odin, wore red, seemed to have multiple arms, and possessed Odin's sword. He then took down Seifer with it, and then mysteriously left, although he did come at random later in future battles."

"After the battle with Seifer, Rinoa was then kidnapped. Ultimecia, in Adel's body, then 'junctioned' Rinoa to herself, and we had to fight the Sorceress while healing Rinoa the whole time.", Irvine explained. "After vanquishing Adel, she transferred her Sorceress Power to Rinoa, just like with Edea back at Galbadia Garden. Just as planned, Ellone sent Ultimecia's and Rinoa's minds into the past. With her mind in all eras, Ultimecia cast Time Compression, though it was temporarily halted when Ellone sent her mind back to the future."

"However, the partially compressed time allowed us to travel to the future and finally reach Ultimecia Castle.", Rinoa continued. "For some reason, all our abilities have been sealed while inside the castle. We had to go through a lot of battles with Ultimecia's minions to get them back. Only could we then confront Ultimecia herself. She attacked with an array of abilities, even reaching into Squall's mind and created Griever, his idea of the ultimate Guardian Force. After we managed to triumph over Griever, Ultimecia 'junctioned' herself to Griever to increase her power. After she was again bested, Ultimecia transformed into her ultimate form to complete Time Compression. In the midst of the battle, some of us fell in battle and were 'absorbed into time'."

"The battle was epic and insane all at the same time. Ultimecia began absorbing all time, space and existence into herself, merging with it in order to become an omnipotent 'living god.' She even seemed to reach into her own mind to create Apocalypse, the ultimate Black Magic spell. I think Rinoa, Squall, and I were the last ones standing near the battle's end. Eventually, her fated destiny, as well as the links that bound us together (not to mention a final blow from Gilgamesh using Odin's sword) proved to be too much for Ultimecia to overcome, and she collapsed in a massive explosion that emanated across space, leaving us stranded in time."

"We managed to get back to our own time by remembering who we were and where we wanted to be. I emerged in the flower field near the orphanage, where Squall and I had made our promise, but he was nowhere to be found. Using my Sorceress powers, I managed to locate Squall at the end of time. He was near death but because of my arrival and my belief that he would survive, he was saved. I also discovered that he went too far back in time, where he traveled to Edea's Orphanage, to a time where he was still a kid and Garden hasn't been conceived of yet."

"Let me guess.", Yoris interrupted. "A dying Ultimecia passed her powers onto Edea before vanishing, and Squall mentioned Garden and the SeeD, creating a time paradox?"

Everybody widened their eyes in surprise. "That's right! How did you know?", Rinoa asked.

"I guess I'm an expert at deductions and 'reading between the lines'."

"Well, after the entire ordeal, we reunited for a—"

"I think we can skip the aftermath.", Gregorio interrupted. "I don't think we're **that** interested in what you did after defeating Ultimecia. However, I think what **can** be worth talking about is how you managed to escape to Traverse Town when the Heartless attacked your world. We understand if you don't want to though."

Irvine and the others turned to one another, then nodded to one another.

Part II. Escape From The Heartless: Case of SeeD

"Some time after stopping the threat that was Ultimecia…was it a year or two?…the Heartless came.", Zell told us. "Before, we just treated it like we would any other monster thinking it was an unnoticed species that came down from the last Lunar Cry at Esthar. Then, as time went on, more of its kind came. They came in all variations, but they were all black, had beady yellow eyes, looked cute, and most had an emblem somewhere on their bodies. We didn't let our guard down as we already had at least two monsters who looked cute yet were deadly."

"Once the monsters started to seem to wear clothes though, we started getting suspicious.", Quistis continued. "Thanks to no longer needing to imprison Adel, we were able to communicate wirelessly around the world. Our nations confirmed that none of them had been formulating any invasion army and that they were all fighting the same enemy. Soon, their leader came, hijacking the TV Station at Timber and delivering a message. From the screens, we saw what looked like a dark Sorceress with sickly green skin, dark robes, and a scepter with a green orb on it. With her was a man in green clothing. His mouth was covered, his clothing was strange and almost foreign, and he wielded a halberd with a gun attachment. The man in green was named Xin and his companion was—"

"Maleficent.", Sora, Donald, and Goofy uttered at the same time, having been given description of her by Leon and company.

"How do you know about her?"

"We heard of her through our friend Leon, whose world was also destroyed by the Heartless thanks to her.", Sora replied. "Please continue."

"Xin was the one who led the Heartless in attacking the station.", Rinoa continued. "Their message was simple; our doom is inevitable. Regardless, we all prepared for war, and all three Gardens were rendered mobile. By this time, Trabia Garden was completely fixed. I reunited with Squall and everyone else at Balamb Garden. Seifer and his friends were there too, and I had brought my dog Angelo with me, who had been a great help to us in our journey."

"How was he able to help you guys?", Goofy asked.

"Angelo's a she and she sometimes comes out of nowhere whenever we are in a bind when encountering monsters."

"Is this one of those 'Limit Break' phenomena?", Donald asked. Sora turned to him and he explained. "Sometimes, fighters reach a state where they are close to losing. When that happens, they might be able to unleash a tremendous amount of power as an attack that they wouldn't normally be able to perform. They may also perform some other special ability to defeat their opponents, or even revitalize themselves and any allies."

"That's right, Donald."

"Is there any way for us to learn them?", Sora asked, eager to know.

"Sorry, but no.", Quistis apologized. "It just comes naturally for us. Not everybody has the gift."

"Oh." Sora looked crestfallen.

"Anyway, the Heartless gathered and attacked and the sky went dark. One by one, our towns and cities fell to the Heartless, attacking anybody who wasn't one of them, including the monsters. Eventually, only the Gardens were left standing, but we lost contact with each other. Balamb Garden was then attacked by the Heartless, who appeared out of portals of darkness. It was here where we made what we realized was our last stand."

"Balamb Garden was over the ocean at that time.", Zell explained. "Some time during the attack, Balamb suddenly stopped and crashed into the ocean. Fortunately, Balamb seemed to float thanks to its mobility system. We assumed Nida and Xu, the ones at the controls, have fallen. Everywhere, SeeDs were struck down by the Heartless and, to our horror, were turned into Heartless themselves."

"During our stand, the six of us were together, watching each other's backs.", Irvine continued. "In the midst of the battle, after Angelo was launched to some of the Heartless by way of a Limit Break of Rinoa's, as she made her way back to us, she was attacked by a Heartless. Selphie ran off to rescue Angelo and I covered her as she ran. Just as she reached her however, a pool of darkness appeared below them and they sank into it." I remembered this happening to me back in the dream. "As she called out for me, I immediately ran to help her but just before I could reach them, they disappeared into it and the pool vanished." Irvine closed his eyes in sadness, and didn't seem to wish to continue.

"I was watching him do all that and I was able to tell he was utterly devastated.", Rinoa said. "I then turned to Squall, who never left my side as we fought. Suddenly however, a large, rotund Heartless came from above and separated Squall from the rest of us. Seconds later, we saw a dark pool manifest undreneath him and it sucked him in, just like it did with Selphie and Angelo. By this time, we realized we were the only ones left standing and that everything was dark."

"Suddenly, as we fought, Rinoa then entered her other Limit Break; the Angel Wing.", Zell continued. "She gained a pair of white wings, floated mid-air, and started to cast all sorts of spells, devastating both the Heartless and the terrain around us, although by then, said terrain that was left was Balamb Garden. No more land, no more ocean, no more anything."

_Just like Destiny Islands!_, I thought. I heard Sora mouth the same thing.

"We then noticed a glowing dark orb in the sky that seemed to suck in whatever was left of the world." Sora and I raised our eyebrows in surprise. That's also exactly what happened at Destiny Islands. "Then, while Rinoa was busy devastating Heartless, Xin and Maleficent appeared through a dark portal and confronted us personally."

"They seemed impressed that we were holding out so far and complimented us for our 'futile' efforts, and the second Rinoa ended her Limit Break, they dismissed all the Heartless and then summoned one that was as big as a Guardian Force.", Quistis continued. "It was completely black, and it had a heart-shaped hole in its chest." Once again, Sora and I reacted, remembering this monstrosity. "We fought it with all our might, but then the wind suddenly intensified and we were sucked in. We held onto each other for dear life, thinking of each other, just like when we went across time to Ultimecia. We then woke up…I think you know what happened next."

"You guys ended up in Traverse Town.", I concluded.

"Uhh…mister?", Selphie asked Irvine. "About this Selphie you were friends with, is it because of what happened to her that you're protecting me so much?"

"Yes.", the sniper replied with a sigh. "You remind us so much of her, me especially. I've sworn not to let anybody fall into the darkness again. We all did."

Part III. Miscellaneous Items

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Gregorio went to the door to open it. When he opened the door, we were greeted by a white figure. His head was completely round, lacking any features save for a few thin lnes where his closed mouth and eyes were. His body was slim, and his arms ended in round ends, lacking any fingers. His legs ended in the same way, although he seemed to be completely balanced.

I couldn't tell if he was completely covered in some sort of whte garb or if this was his bodily appearance, but if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was a 'stick figure'. He seemed to have a bag similar in design to my own, only it was white like the rest of him.

"Welcome back!", Tidus and Zell said at the same time. The two then turned to each other and laughed.

"How're you guys doing?", the white figure asked. We saw his mouth move, showing a mouth as regular as ours, but his eyes remained closed.

"We're fine.", Selphie said. "We were just listening to a story."

"Okay. I think I'll stop paying the rent to your room. After all, you're staying here with them, right?"

"I'm afraid our room is too small for four adults and three kids.", Rinoa said.

"Oh, all right. I noticed you guys have been running low on magic, so I brought something to replenish that."

"Huh? Won't Ethers replenish their magic?", Donald asked, being a magic user himself.

"We don't exactly use magic the same way you guys do.", Zell said.

"How then?", Goofy asked.

"You'll see.", the white figure said as he took off his bag and set it on the table after it was cleared of items. He then took out from the bag a machine as big as a typewriter. He set it down on the bag and then put his bag down on the floor. The contraption the white figure took out was metallic, and seemed to be a closed case with a keyhole. The case was then opened and it showed what looked like very advanced technology. On one side of the case was half of a large spherical crystal, which was currently of a clear shade. Around it and on the other side of the contraption were buttons, lights, and labels of all kinds.

"What's that?", Gregorio asked.

"It's a P&RDP (1).", the white figure answered. he then offered what was probably an instruction manual. "Here are the instructions on how to use them." He then pushed a few buttons and lights began to flicker. The crystal then turned green and started to spew streams of energy.

"Is this…", Rinoa uttered as she held out a hand. Just then, as she approached the machine, the energy streamers flowed right into her hands. "It is!"

"What is i—Oh!", Zell gasped in realization.

"Is this like an artificial Draw Point?", Irvine asked.

"Why, yes.", the white figure replied.

"Draw Point?", Sora asked.

"This is how we use magic.", Quistis explained. "We used to Draw magic from Draw Points and our enemies back in our world. As such, we run on a set stock."

"That must be pretty hard now that your world is no more.", Yoris said.

"Why not Draw magic from the Heartless?", Sora asked. This earned him a smack to the head from Donald's staff. "What?"

"You know what?", Zell said. "Why didn't we think of that?"

"Because we might get infected by the darkness and turn into Heartless ourselves, perhaps?", Quistis replied in a deadpan manner.

"No need to worry about that.", the white figure assured. "While you don't obtain much from them, it is safe to Draw magic from Heartless."

Irvine, Zell, and Quistis went to the P&RDP and stretched out their hands, Drawing magic from it. The white figure then handed a key to Quistis. She then closed the P&RDP and then locked it with the key. She then walked to a cabinet I somehow failed to notice, which was close to the bed I once lay. She opened it and we saw a safety deposit box. After placing the P&RDP on top of the box, she went to the safe, and turned its combination lock. After opening it, she placed the key inside, then closed the safe, spinning the lock.

"May I trust you not to unlock the case?", Irvine asked Sora.

"What makes you think—"

"Your Keyblade, remember?"

"Oh. Don't worry, I won't. It's not like I have a use for it anyway."

"Uhh…Quistis?", Goofy asked. "What were those red feathers inside?" While Quistis was storing the P&RDP, he saw two red feathers inside the safe.

"Wait…red feathers?", Donald asked his fellow knight.

"Uhh…", Zell was about to make an excuse of some kind.

"Phoenix Downs!", the court wizard realized. "Wow! Those are rare nowadays. I read that they can revive anybody!"

"Uhh…that's not exactly true.", Quistis said as she closed the closet. "Contrary to popular belief, Phoenix Downs cannot revive anybody who is dead. Only those who are on the verge of it."

"Oh."

"Well, I shall be going, then.", the white figure said as he took his bag and started to leave.

"Wait a second!", Gregorio said. "Where exactly do you go? I mean, we're using your Gummi Ship, right?"

"I have another vessel for myself only."

"Just what is it you're doing?"

"That's my business. Also, I loaned it to you guys until you finish finding the parts I've asked you to look for."

"Just why do we need to get them?"

"That's my business too. Also, aren't you traveling with the Keyblade master?"

"How do you—"

"I saw you guys traveling with him. Well, gotta go!" Quickly, the white figure left. We stayed quiet for a few seconds.

"Wait a minute…", Sora then said. "We didn't even find out his name."

"We don't know his true name, but he goes by the moniker 'Chosen One'.", Rinoa explained.

"'Chosen One'?", Donald asked.

"Apparently, he's was a 'hero of a different story'.", Zell said with a shrug.

"…Well, we better get going.", Sora said.

"Oh yeah.", Yoris realized. "The gizmo shop."

"Well, see you guys later."

"Bye!", waved Tidus.

"Good luck, Sora!", said Wakka.

Part IV. Alternate Scenario: 'Me' vs. Irvine

"You can't be serious!", I gasped in fear as I shielded myself.

"Sorry, but I am." He then fired his weapon and I realized the battle has begun. For some reason, his gun wasn't that loud, and most are deafening.

As he begun to reload, I aimed my gun and fired at my opponent relentlessly. However, he seemed to dodge the attacks by swerving his body. It didn't help that my attacks were 'slow lasers' compared to his fast bullets. He then fired again and I hid behind my shield. When he stopped firing, I turned my shield away to fire when the man suddenly fired again. I was hit at the left shoulder, but for some reason, I didn't register a load of pain on that spot, but a little of it all over my body.

We started to strafe around the area, trading shots as we went. Just then, the man put his shotgun aside and aimed his free hand at me. I then saw blue energy and snowflakes gather around it. I then realized he was about to cast a Blizzard attack. However, I couldn't do anything as ice quickly formed around me. I felt cold for a moment, then it shattered and I was hurt from the attack.

Just then, I had a crazy notion. I found myself running right at the man and started to bash him with my shield. Unfortunately for me, he seemed to be expecting it and as he received the blows, even as I also shot, he evaded my next attacks, and started to swing his shotgun at me like a bludgeon. I was hit a few times before I managed to land a shot at his leg. As he flinched for a moment, I quickly increased my distance from him. The man then raised his hand into the air. A second later, I was hit by a lightning bolt. For some reason thankfully, I wasn't instantly killed or seriously injured, but it hurt as much as the Blizzard.

"Oww…", I groaned. "The Thunder spell."

I knew that there was nowhere to run, so this had to end quickly. As the man approached me slowly, his shotgun aimed at me, I frantically fired away at him. He flinched from the attacks but kept his aim true. I then brought up my shield to defend myself and then the shotgun was fired. I raised my shield higher in reflex and it hit where my head would've been. In a desperte attempt, I then frantically shot at the man and he was pushed back a few steps. I then saw him kneel to the floor. He was weakening.

However, it was happening to me too. My heart was beating very fast. It was getting harder for me to concentrate. My vision was getting blurry. My legs were shaking. I couldn't even grasp my weapons. Eventually, I gave in to my exhaustion and lost consciousness before hitting the ground.

KHKHKHKHKH

Again, I was hearing voices in my subconscious.

_"Irvine, are you all right?", a female voice asked._

_"Yeah. I'm fine.", replied the man I fought against. "I just went easy on him." He then sighed. "Poor kid. Looks like things are a lot worse than we thought."_

_"Let's take him back."_

_"Way ahead of you."_

Part V. The Phil Cup

-This takes place after the end of Chapter 8-

I woke up with a start as we arrived at…Olympus Coliseum.

"Hey? What are we doing here?", I asked.

"There's a tournament being held at the Coliseum.", Chip said through the comms system.

"I hear there's a great reward for the winner.", Dale added. Both of them were at the controls in front of Donald, who had his arms folded and his face in a stern manner.

"How do you know all that?", Gregorio asked.

"We have our ways.", both of them answered.

"Oh well. Sora did promise we'd return, right?"

KHKHKHKHKH

We entered the Coliseum, passing by Hercules as he waved at us. We made it to the lobby, where Phil was standing.

"Welcome back, junior heroes!", he called. Donald just groaned. "You came for the tournament?"

"Uhh…yeah.", Sora answered.

"It's called the Phil Cup. You wanna enter?" Sora nodded. "How do you wanna go about it?"

"What does that mean?"

"Well, you could enter on your own and him." He gestured to me. "Or with your companions." He gestured to the rest.

"We're entering together."

"Well okay. Let's get started."

KHKHKHKHKH

As we entered the arena, the bleachers were filled with spectators. They all cheered as we entered. I felt a little embarrassed, as never before was I (granted, with others, but still…) cheered on by this many. Sora put a hand on my shoulder and I immediately felt assured. We prepared for battle as the barrier formed around us.

The 9th seed featured us up against four Powerwilds and three Soldiers, all Heartless. The tournament consisted of nine battles. I didn't know how tournaments here go, but I didn't care as we started fighting. Donald started off with a Blizzard spell, which quickly eliminated the Soldiers at front. We then charged at the Powerwilds and they were goners in seconds. Like usual, we felt we had to perform what I decided to call 'victory poses', as they usually occur once we win a battle.

The 8th seed consisted of one Powerwild, and nine "Musical Wizards", two each of the Cure and Fire kind, and five of the Thunder kind. The second the fight began, we all scattered, attacking at the spellcasting Heartless, with Sora handling the Powerwild. We handled them quickly too, in spite of the Green Requiems.

The 7th seed consisted of four Powerwilds and…a pair of legs from the Guard Armor. Unlike the last ones however, these were colored magenta.

"Now that's just wrong!", Yoris complained.

"I guess there's more than one Guard Armor Heartless in existence.", Gregorio said. "I'm counting on seeing the other parts soon."

We dealt with the Poweriwlds with ease, but the Hammerlegs (as the Diary called them after the battle) were just as problematic as they were when we fought against them along with the rest of the Guard Armor. However, as we didn't have to actually fight any Guard Armor, the fight was much easier. After all, not only were we stronger than last time, but four Powerwilds can't substitute the power of the rest of the Guard Armor.

The 6th seed was composed of Red Nocturnes and Yellow Operas, five each. They were a real doozy compared to the last one. However, the 5th seed posed as a wake-up call from our brief complacency that followed. It consisted of five Powerwilds and one Large Body. In spite of our improvement in battle, these still proved a problem, if not for the fact that Large Bodies are immune to frontal attacks, and have greater vitality than most regular Heartless, not counting 'bosses' of course.

The Large Body seemed to be snoozing, not even noticing the fight started as the Powerwilds charged us. It woke up with a start as soon as we got close. Things then got crazy. I don't know how, but we managed to finish the fight in one minute.

"Man, that was tiring.", I said as I tucked my gun into my pocket and took a swig from my water bottle. I then wiped my forehead as we returned to the benches for a time-out.

KHKHKHKHKH

The 4th seed consisted of four Shadows, three Blue Rhapsodies…and a pair of hands from the Guard Armor that the Diary named Gauntlets. The fight was easy as while the Gauntlets still did their dangerous attacks, they were surprisingly as weak as a Shadow. We didn't let our guard down like last time, and good thing too since the 3rd seed composed of **two **Large Bodies, and six Green Requiems. Even when we managed to defeat the healing Heartless, the big ones still proved difficult. Still, we made it through.

The 2nd seed consisted of four Powerwilds, and a red Guard Armor…minus the head and torso. As we fought them, I noticed that the Hammerlegs and Gauntlets moved as if they were connected to a torso. Eventually, as they performed new maneuvers, they split from each other, dealing with my comrades separately. We managed to take them down with only minor injuries.

The 1st seed—the last one—was composed of eight "Musical Wizards", four each of the Blizzard and the Thunder kind…and the Armored Torso (and head) of the Guard Armor.

"Now who didn't see this one coming?", Yoris said to no one in particular.

Regardless, we charged as always. It proved to be a mistake however, as the Armored Torso began to spin like a top, knocking us out of its way as it passed.

"Man! This defiinitely isn't like the Guard Armor at all.", I complained. "It has a different battle plan!"

The battle was very hard, but we made it through, with Sora dealing the finishing blow on the Torso, which began to explode in places before disappearing. Before we knew it, the Cup was over, and we were the victors.

"You know what I noticed?", I said as, for some reason, confetti started to fall out of nowhere. "These Heartless do not drop any spheres to restore health or magic, or any munny like the ones we fought across the worlds." (2)

"You only noticed it now?", Gregorio sked me incredulously.

"No. I only **mentioned** it now."

KHKHKHKHKH

Back at the lobby, Phil and Hercules were congratulating us for our victory.

"I never thought you'd do it.", the hero trainer said. "Not bad."

"Phil, you're just as stubborn as ever.", said Hercules. "Don't pretend you're not happy for them."

"Ahem! Now, kid, you still got a long way to go. The next round's startin' soon. Next time, it'll be the real thing."

"Here. You guys earned it." Hercules handed Sora a tiny purple scroll. When the Key Bearer took it, it disappeared and he seemed to feel heavy for a second. The hero then handed me a green Power Orb. It took it, examined it, and saw what looked like a purple dome inside.

"You got the power of the stars, kid.", Phil said.

"It's the Gravity spell.", Donald explained.

"Well, we better get going.", Yoris said. "We'll be back for the next cup."

"Oh wait.", I said. "I wanted to ask you guys something."

"Yeah, kid?", Phil said.

"You know, each time we win a seed, except for the last one and a few others, we always seem to get the feeling to have to pose or something. We never get that feeling anywhere else. Do you know anything about it?"

"Sorry, kid. I haven't a clue."

"Now that you mention it, I always have that feeling.", Hercules noted. "Never thought it might be a phenomenon of some kind. I kinda liked doing it. Well, shouldn't you guys be off?"

"Oh. Right."

Gummi Ship Time: Realization

As we sailed the stars en route to who knows where, I decided to read the Diary and its recently updated entries. As Gregorio talked with Donald, I looked over Leon's entry, which matched the one in Jiminy's Journal. Suddenly, I widened my eyes in realization.

"What?", I gasped.

"Huh?", Gregorio and Donald said.

"What is it?", Yoris asked.

"It's about Leon's entry!", I said.

"What about it?"

I read the entry aloud, "Leon. A swordsman who wields the Gunblade. His real name: Squall Leonhart."

"Squall Leonhart?", Donald gasped. This caught Sora's attention.

"Didn't Irvine and the others mention him when they told us their story?", the Key Bearer asked.

"Yes, they did.", I said.

"But Cid said he escaped his world with Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie when the three were kids.", Donald argued.

"Now how is that possible?"

"Perhaps it's a different person.", Goofy guessed.

"Let's see. Same name, both first and last, both wield the gunblade, which I think is not really common…I seriously doubt that."

"Well, they can't both be right!", Sora said.

"Maybe one side's mistaken in the details."

"But which?"

"What about we bring the two groups together?", Gregorio suggested.

"Good idea.", Donald agreed. "But let's do that when we get back to Traverse Town for supplies. For now, let's look for whatever it is we need to look for."

"Don't you know what you need to look for?"

"We're not looking for the same thing, remember?"

"Oh, right."

"Well, I'll be snoozing off now.", I said to no one in particular as I closed my eyes and let the Gummi Ship's Refreshment system do its work on me.

**Irvine -updated-**

_A resident of Traverse Town who lost his world to the Heartless. He wields a shotgun and is an expert marksman. He also knows a little close combat, magic, and knowledge about the Gun of Light._

_His homeworld was lost to the Heartless and so was a girl precious to him named Selphie. Ever since losing her (as well as a friend named Squall), he and his friends have sworn not to let anybody fall to the darkness._

_"Final Fantasy VIII"_

**Rinoa** -updated-****

_A resident of Traverse Town whose world was lost to the Heartless. She is a kindly person who works with Irvine, Quistis, and Zell to ensure the safety of their new home. She may not look the part, but she is also a powerful Sorceress._

_"Final Fantasy VIII"_

**Quistis** -updated-****

_A resident of Traverse Town who lost her world when the Heartless attacked. She is a calm, gifted, and friendly woman who cares for her friends. Along with Irvine, Rinoa, and Zell, she protects the town from the Heartless._

_"Final Fantasy VIII"_

**Zell** -updated-****

_A resident of Traverse Town who lost his world from the Heartless. He possesses unsurpassed martial arts skills and runs errands for the group. Along with, Irvine, Rinoa, and Quistis, he protects the town from the Heartless._

_"Final Fantasy VIII"_

**Xin**

_A mysterious man who works with Maleficent. It is not known if he controls the Heartless alongside her, if he is under her command, or if she is under his. Either way, they have destroyed countless worlds and it is not known what their true intentions are._

**'Chosen One'**

_A white 'stick figure' who rescued Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus from Destiny Islands when it fell to the darkness. He provided this Gummi Ship, the Destiny, for Gregorio and Yoris to use in finding 'parts' for him. He also seems to know about the Gun of Light, having told Irvine and his company about it._

-Well, I'll just say the Story Crew Has a hand on the Victory Pose thing in Olympus Coliseum. And that's all for now. See ya on Third.-

(1) Portable and Reusable Draw Point.

(2) I almost forgot about these and now that I thought of it, I think it's be better if I didn't mention it and nobody question it.


	11. Chapter 9: Agrabah

nightelf37: Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there (or the manga), or even the movie where the current world is based on, I 'own' it.

Kep: That's it?

nightelf37: Yes. For now at least.

Chapter 9: Agrabah

Part I. Dreams and a Desert City

I was having a dream.

_There was a little boy dragging a large plank of wood across the beach sand. It was a hot summer day, and the cool blue ocean seemed to beckon him to drop the wood and jump in. The boy screwed up his face and wiped the sweat from his brow._

Hey, is that…_, I thought._

_Putting the plank of wood down on the beach, he ran his hands through his spiky sand-colored hair as he looked out over the horizon. He kicked off his sandals, and then stepped into the sea water. For a long while he just stood there, the waves engulfing his feet and burying his toes in the sand._

Is that…Sora? As a kid?

_He then looked back to the horizon, cupped his hands around his mouth, and yelled.. Having done this, the boy grinned and hurried back to pick up the plank of wood. The dry sand that he stepped in clung to his wet feet, and the little boy rubbed at his feet with one hand to get rid of it before pulling his sandals back on._

Now why am I having a dream about him?

_The little boy took up the wood and continued to drag it away, singing a song, although it seemed incoherent and the lyrics just seemed wrong. _

Now why am I not having a dream about me?

_After a few moments of dragging the wood through the sand, the boy stopped as he noticed something lying on the beach._

Now what's going on?

_He dropped the wood again and ran toward it. It was a small girl, about his age. She lay face-down on the beach, the tide licking her legs up to her knees. She wore a lacy white dress, now covered in wet sand. For a long time, the boy hovered above her, his eyes wide._

Wait a minute…

_The boy knelt down and laid one hand on the girl's shoulder. He shook her slightly to rouse her. Slowly, she turned her sea-colored eyes upward and looked the boy straight in the eyes. She blinked in confusion as the boy smiled at her. He leaned forward slightly and asked the girl what her name was. She smiled, pushing back a loose strand of crimson hair, and then opened her mouth to answer._

I can't believe it. It's Kairi!

All of a sudden the whole image changed. Before I knew it, it was now an image of something else.

_It was a nighttime in the islands. Everything ws quiet, save for the waves crashing on the shore and the night critters. Suddenly, a portal of light appeared out of nowhere. Out of it emerged four individuals._

Hey…is that…

"Wakey-wakey!"

KHKHKHKHKH

I was abruptly shaken awake by Yoris. I straightened right away, yet still disoriented.

"What's going on?", I asked.

"We're here! At the next world. See for yourself!"

I turned to the cockpit and saw straight ahead. The world ahead seemed to be of a desert one. I could see what I identified as an Arabian palace at the top. And at the bottom, I could see a head out of sand that seemed to resemble some sort of large feline.

"Hey! Where's the Excalibur?", I asked.

"Sora and company decided to land already. We'll be following them right now."

The three of us got off our seats and made our way to the Transwarp Room. Gregorio went to the screen and pushed a few buttons. However, he seemed to be getting irritated.

"Dammit.", grumbled Gregorio.

"What's wrong?", Yoris asked.

"The sand is interfering with their tracking system. I'll get us down near the city entrance. Sora and company would most likely be there."

After he set the coordinates, we stepped onto the platforms, and he used the teleportation device, sending us down into the world. However, I then experienced a vision yet again.

KHKHKHKHKH

'I' ended up in what 'I' presumed to be the streets of the city we were about to enter. However, something seemed very wrong. The streets in what seemed to be a marketplace had been completely abandoned. Some stalls were completely empty while other shopkeepers seemed to have been dropped on the spot, leaving behind all of their precious goods. The streets were quiet, as if the entire city had been deserted. Not a was to be found, save for two dark figures that slowly made their way down the road. Behind them were two figures. Both of them were dressed in the same way as Yi and Jia.

One of the dark figures was an elegant lady dressed in the style of a black dragon (whom I identified through Leon's description as Maleficent), while the other was a tall, skinny man with a golden snake staff in one hand. They strode down the street together, Maleficent just a few steps ahead of her companion, and the men in green flanking them like bodyguards. 'I' figured one of them was Xin (as described to us by Irvine and company when he told us their story on how their world was lost to the Heartless). Maleficent was listening to the man as he gave her a full report on the happenings of the city, but she didn't seem to be interested.

She slowed in her step until she came to a stop. "And the Keyhole?"

The man continued to walk until he was just one small step behind the lady. "The Heartless are searching for it now. I'm certain we'll find it soon enough."

The dragon lady narrowed her eyes in disappointment. She then shut her eyes. The man's face turned into a slight scowl. He then relaxed somewhat and drew in a breath.

"So that just leaves…"

Just then, a short, stubby parrot with red feathers emerged in the sky with a loud squawk. The parrot spiraled downward to the figures on the street. Both the man and lady watched as the parrot began to descend upon the man's shoulder with a loud, exhausted groan.

"Jafar!", the parrot shouted to his keeper as he landed. He stretched his tired wings, revealing the green and blue tips on them, and ruffled his similarly patterned tail. The man raised an eyebrow in annoyance as he looked at the bird as he took a moment to catch his breath before reporting. "I've looked everywhere for Jasmine. She's disappeared like magic!"

Jafar snorted. "The girl is more trouble than she's worth."

His lady companion had resumed walking, gripping her staff tighter in annoyance.

"You said you had things under control.", one of the men in green said.

The vizier exchanged an annoyed, frustrated look with his parrot before returning his attention to the witch, ignoring the one who just talked to him.

"Agrabah is full of holes for **rats** to hide in. But why worry about Princess Jasmine? With or without her, surely this world will be ours when we find the Keyhole."

Maleficent took in a breath through her nostrils and shut her eyes. "We need all seven princesses of heart to open the final door.", she told him, her voice eerily calm. "Any fewer is useless."

Jafar raised his eyebrows, then made a wicked smirk. "Well, if the princess is that important, we'll find her."

He shared another menacing look with his parrot, the same wicked grin on both faces. The vizier then looked forward and raised his staff slightly off the ground, then set it down as if tapping the sand. Almost immediately, a small group of Heartless, resembling a band of Arabian bandits brandishing scimitars, appeared before him. Jafar smiled viciously at them.

"Find Jasmine and bring her to me at once.", he ordered.

The parrot then rose from Jafar's shoulder and flew off, leading the Heartless further into the city to do Jafar's bidding. They raised their swords in the air as they followed. Jafar and one of the men in green then moved to follow them.

"Don't steep yourself in darkness too long.", Maleficent warned Jafar. "The Heartless consume the careless."

Jafar stopped in his tracks and threw his head back. He looked back over his shoulder, still smiling. "Your concern is touching, but hardly necessary."

Maleficent narrowed her eyes at Jafar as he resumed walking.

"Bing.", said the man in green who acompanied Maleficent.

The other man in green stopped and turned. "Yes, Commander Xin?", he asked.

"Make sure the princess is captured **before **Jafar sends the Heartless to the Keyhole. Stall him by any means necessary if indeed it is necessary to accomplish this."

"Affirmative, sir."

With that, as Jafar was no longer in sight, Bing flashed a bit before disappearing. Xin then opened a dark portal and he and Maleficent crossed it. It then closed, leaving the place abandoned. Little did they know (although 'I' did as 'I' turned) that a beautiful young woman had been hiding behind one of the abandoned stalls, having heard every single word.

KHKHKHKHKH

I was suddenly shifted back to my perspective as I realized we made it to the city and reunited with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. However…

"Gawrsh, sure is an empty place…", the knight said.

As we entered the large, Arabian city, the first thing we noticed was the lack of people, which ws totally unexpected. The streets were deserted, the curtains on windows drawn, and all the doors locked. Whether the residents shut themselves inside their homes, never to leave, or chose to leave and never come back, we didn't know.

We looked around warily as we walked what must've been the main street. The complete silence was near unbearable. I could even hear our footsteps and the sand and shifting beneath them.

"What's going on around here?", Donald wondered aloud.

Goofy shuddered. "I'm gettin' the creeps."

"Same here.", Sora agreed.

"Maybe we should go.", Yoris suggested.

"I smell Heartless.", I found myself saying.

Everyone turned to me. "You do?", Sora asked in surprise.

"Of course not. It's a figure of speech. Perhaps we should look for this world's Keyhole just in case."

"In case of what?", Doanld asked me.

"Heartless, of course. Who else would want to find the Keyhole?"

"But where do we start looking?"

Just then, I saw something dash across the empty street. I stopped and turned to look. Everyone noticed and looked at me in confusion.

"What's wrong?", Sora asked.

"I could swear I saw something just now."

Donald waved it off. "Aw, phooey. It's probably nothing."

"All the more reason to check.", Gregorio said.

"And why?"

"It may actually be—"

He was interrupted by something dropping from above. It didn't land on him though; it landed on Sora. On the head.

"**Aaahhhh!**", Sora shouted in panic. "**Get it off! Get it off!**"

It was a small, skinny brown monkey wearing a small maroon vest and a purple fez. The monkey crawled all over Sora, swiftly dodging Sora's attempts to grab hold of him. Goofy and Donald stood stunned for a moment. Gregorio and Yoris stood ready to attempt to grab the monkey. However, they were stopped by the former two.

"Don't.", Goofy warned. "Trying to help could only make things worse."

"For once, Goofy's right.", Donald added. "I should know."

The little simian then leapt off of Sora…and onto me, scrambling around my leggings before landing on the ground and beginning to move away. Sora was breathing hard, his eyes still wide from the shock, clutching one hand to his chest…finding his silver crown pendant missing. Sora's eyes grew even wider as he patted himself down, searching for it.

"Heh whoooaaa. Heh whoooaaa!"

We turned to see the monkey, standing about six feet away…holding up Sora's crown necklace!

"You hairy little thief!", Sora accused.

The little monkey laughed, tucked the necklace away and tipped his fez hat. "Hah bu!"

With that, the thief made his escape. Sora immediately took off after him. We all followed his lead. "Get back here!"

Sora ran after his prey, following it into the alley which seemed to be a dead end of sorts. He halted in the alley and looked around. When nothing happened, he bent over, hands on his knees as he caught his breath, giving us a chance to catch up. By the time we did, I saw the monkey suddenly come up at his face.

Sora immediately jumped back in surprise with a loud yell, his arms flailing. He knocked into Donald and Goofy when he jumped, and all three of them tumbled to the ground, landing flat on their backs. As the rest of us caught up, the monkey howled back in shock, running away and hiding behind a set of crates and barrels stacked up in the corner. The Key Bearer groaned as he sat up and began to dust himself off.

Goofy chuckled. "Gawrsh, Sora. I woulda thought that a little monkey would take to ya, seein' as ya seemed to get along just fine with the gorillas."

Donald sat up. "I don't think monkeys and gorillas are exactly the same thing, Goofy."

"Really? I thought they were cousins or something!"

"Well, the two and humans are related, being primates and all, but yes, they are different.", I said.

"Who's there? Hello?", a delicate voice came.

We all turned around to the wooden pile, as the voice came from there. A young woman slowly stepped out from her hiding place, the monkey on her shoulder. She had large, piercing, brown eyes with long lashes, almost hidden from view by her long, thick, raven tresses. Her hair cascaded down her backside, tied at two places with thick light aqua colored bands. She was dressed in matching shoulderless midriff top and baggy pants. Around her head was another, thicker band with a large smooth cut gem at the forehead. She wore a simple golden necklace matching her round-edge triangle-shaped gold earrings. Her slippers were gold in color, matching with her earrings and necklace. I could tell she was royalty, yet she seemed humble at the same time.

_Wait…why is she wearing a belly dancer costume?_, I thought.

For a moment, we were completely mesmerized, me especially. The young woman looked at each of us in confusion, somewhat uncomfortable. We then snapped ourselves out of our trance with a vigorous shaking of our heads. Sora smiled, and took a hesitant step forward.

"Uh, hi!", Sora introduced with a smile. "I-I'm Sora! And these are my friends, Donald, Goofy…"

"My name's Rael.", I said with a bow, although I somehow felt this wan't appropriate for this kind of royal person, and more to one of a…Western (European) style.

"Yoris!" The cannoneer also bowed, but stiffly, as if greeting a martial arts master.

"Gregorio!" The lancer saluted like a soldier.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at us, perplexed for a few seconds. The young woman shared the same expression, then relaxed slightly and began to move forward. The small monkey popped out his head from behind Jasmine's shoulder. Sora glared at the little creature.

"No need for formalities.", she said with a smile. Gregorio, Yoris, and I eased ourselves. "I'm Jasmine. My father is the sultan of Agrabah."

"Uh… so that makes you a princess.", Goofy answered in surprise. Donald and Sora nodded as they finally understood. The latter then shot another annoyed look at the monkey. The princess nodded in response to Goofy, then drew in a deep breath and cast a regretful glance in the direction of the palace.

"But he has been deposed by Jafar, who now controls the city.", she went on, a touch of anger in her voice.

"Jafar?"

"Is he a sultan of a different city?", Yoris asked.

"Or a relative in the royal family?", I guessed.

Princess Jasmine looked at the three of us in shock, her brown eyes widening. "You haven't heard of him? He's the royal vizier."

Goofy opened his mouth wide, about to say something when Donald quickly jabbed him in the side, stopping him.

"Sorry.", Gregorio apologized. "We're…foreigners."

"I see." Jasmine continued, "He's gained evil powers and seized Agrabah. He's desperately looking for something—something he calls the 'Keyhole'." Sora's eyes widened and he exchanged meaningful looks with us, and we nodded in acknowledgement. Jasmine continued her story, unaware. "Jafar caught me trying to escape, but he helped me." She seemed to calm down as she looked to the floor with a smile.

"Wait…what?", I asked, confused with the pronouns. "Jafar caught you trying to escape, but **he** helped you? Why would he help you if—"

"I believe 'he' didn't refer to Jafar.", Gregorio told me as I saw the monkey roll his eyes in annoyance and turned away.

"Well, sorry. How was I to know that?"

"Who helped you?", Sora asked Jasmine.

Jasmine turned to look at Sora, brushing a loose strand of her hair away from her face. "We were hiding nearby, but he left a while ago to take care of something…" Her expression then changed to worry. "Oh, I hope Aladdin's all right."

"Aladdin? Where might I find this street rat?", a voice came.

We all turned at the voice, looking up at the high level from which it came from. There stood a tall, thin man with a long face and almost snake-like eyes. He had a sharp chin, accented by a small curled goatee. He wore regal-looking Arabian clothes colored black and red. In one hand he held a long gold staff, its 'head' shaped like that of a cobra.

Jasmine narrowed her eyes. "Jafar."

We were all rooted to the spot, somehow paralyzed. For some reason, this man reeked of evil. I then noticed somebody else. Almost hidden from view, but standing out from the sandy brown of the city walls, was a man in green Eastern clothes. On his hand was a halberd, and he was leaning against a wall.

The monkey, who was sitting on Jasmine's shoulder the whole time, leapt down to the ground and took off, leaving the alley. I glanced and saw him go.

"Abu!", Jasmine called. But the monkey didn't return.

The royal vizier narrowed his eyes at the six of us and sneered slightly, then replaced it with false concern.

"Jasmine.", he said, trying to sound worried. "Allow me to find you more suitable company, my dear princess." He then wickedly smiled. "These little rats won't do, you see."

"Jasmine, run!", Sora said to her softly.

The princess ran out of the alley without hesiation, taking off in the same direction as Abu. The royal vizier narrowed his eyes as he watched her run. He then slowly turned his gaze onto us as Sora brought out his Keyblade, expecting a fight. Jafar's eyes widened slightly when he noticed it. As Donald, Goofy, Yoris, and Gregorio pulled out their weapons as well, an amused smile appeared on Jafar's face.

"Ah… the boy who holds the key," he said amusedly.

_How does he know about the Keyblade?_, I thought._ Or even…about Sora for that matter?_

Donald leapt up into the air in a fit, quacking loudly, "How do you know about Sora?"

Goofy raised his hand in objection. "And about the Keyblade?"

"Just who are you?", Yoris demanded.

"You're not just some corrupt royal vizier, aren't you?", Gregorio said.

Jafar responded with a cackle as he stepped back from the ledge. He glared at Sora, still smiling, as several Heartless appeared in front of him, dressed like Arabian bandits. Their yellow eyes could be seen through their turbans as they tossed their scimitars from one hand to the other. Jafar soon turned away and began to walk off, making his exit through a hidden doorway to his right. The Heartless jumped down from the higher level and charged at us without hesitation.

"**Hey, wait!**", Sora yelled as he ignored the Heartless that came after him, jumping up onto the stack of crates and barrels Jasmine had hidden behind. As he grabbed onto the ledge and pulled himself up quickly. I remembered I was in a battle and summoned my weapons…only to see the DirLuxGun in my hand.

"Son of a—", I exclaimed. Gregorio and Yoris quickly turned in concern, then quickly started to fight. I went in the battle too, keeping my distance as I no longer had my shield to protect me. "That little bastard! Once we make it through this, he's gonna pay!"

The Heartless seemed to be getting stronger with every world we visited. The Heartless were not only dressed like Arabian thieves; they fought like them too, not that I've seen any before, either personally or through the stories I've read. They swung their scimitars with precision and ease. They could leap high into the air, their blades shining in the sun, and perform other various sword techniques. These Heartless were much more formidable than Shadows, but they came in no smaller groups. That posed an even greater challenge to us.

Knowing all this, it was no surprise that the battle was a struggle. Each of us were completely caught up with our own fights that we had little time to look out for one another.

Gregorio tried fighting several of them all at once, but it proved to be extremely difficult. Even with a spear ("Javelin!"), he couldn't keep all their scimitars at bay. He was forced to a corner, where parrying them would be easier. Goofy used his traditional barreling tactic, holding his shield out in front of him as he charged through the masses while Donald zapped and shot at them with his magic, as well as jabbing them with his staff when they came too close. Yoris and I were at each other's backs, holding off any Bandits that tried to get to us and taking down any that were cornering Gregorio.

One of the bandits left alone on the other side of the alley positioned itself so that it was in line with the two of us. Then, empowering itself, it took off in a powerful leap, launching itself straight for us, its scimitar gleaming. I saw it headed for us and quickly moved in front to intercept, then I remembered I had no shield. I quickly panicked, aimed my gun, and wished for it to be blown away.

All of a sudden, I saw one of my green Power Orbs glow. As soon as the bandit had come within one foot of my face, it shifted its position slightly in mid-air, as if blocked by a force field. The Heartless was then sent flying past me and Yoris and right into another of its kind cornering Gregorio. I looked around, and realized this was the Aero spell. I was expecting a small tornado of sorts to come out from up front to charge at the enemy, not some repellant force field, but that was still good for me.

As everyone else finished off the rest of the Heartless, all of a sudden, Sora was pushed off the ledge above us and he fell to the ground. As he rolled along it. The man I saw earlier jumped down to confront us.

"Now it's my turn.", he said.

"Careful.", Sora warned as he got up. "Bing's a tough guy."

"Who's Bing?", Donald asked.

"Me.", the man in green answered. "Duh."

All of a sudden, Bing seemed to 'blink' out of sight right before our very eyes. Suddenly, Gregorio screamed from taking a hit. We all turned to see Bing right there. He spun his halberd around and taunted us to come at him. Sora stayed wary, having seen what he could do. Yoris and I stayed back, not being the sort who'd charge. Goofy wasn't exactly the aggressive type. Donald however accepted the challenge and rushed him, even though it'd be better if he cast a spell. And thankfully, that's what he did. Unfortunately, Bing swiftly dodged the Fire spell.

"Too slow.", Bing taunted. Just before Sora could take advantage of this second, Bing swiftly parried his attack, then dodged a few shots from me. He was then tackled from behind by Goofy. Yoris quickly followed with a fireball which struck home. "I think I've stalled you guys for long enough." Bing them suddenly disappeared in a flash.

"Darn it!", cussed Gregorio.

"Hey.", I said. "Looks like he dropped this."

A Power Orb lay on the sandy floor, presumably left behind by Bing in his hasty leave. This orb had a tree symbol inside it. I took it, and placed it on one of the slots of my bracer.

_Hmm. I'm running out of space._, I thought. _I better prioritize soon._

Just then, the Diary beeped. I took it out, and it said, "Bandits. Heartless that mostly appear in Agrabah. They can travel under the sand. They attack deftly with a long sword. Attack them with caution."

"Heh whooaaa!"

I put away my Diary and we all turned to the higher level where Jafar once was to see the monkey thief waving at us.

"It's Jasmine's monkey friend!", Goofy said.

Sora looked up and narrowed his eyes. "**Hey!**" With a short screech, the monkey jumped down to the floor and joined us. Sora then grabbed the monkey by the arms, lifting him up off the ground, and shaking him like a piggy bank. "Give me back my necklace, you little thief!"

"And my shield too!", I joined in.

Nothing fell from within the folds of his vest, fur, or hat. Shocked, Sora raised the monkey in the air so that their faces were level. "Okay, where'd you hide it?" The monkey merely grinned sheepishly and shrugged, feigning innocence. Sora sighed.

"Why do you want your necklace back so much, Sora?", Goofy asked as Sora released the monkey.

Sora turned away slightly, scratching the back of his head and looking up to the sky. "I just like it a lot. It's like… my trademark, I guess."

"'Trademark'?", Donald echoed. He rolled his eyes and laughed. "Sounds like you think you're part of some big franchise or something." The court wizard then burst out laughing, clutching his sides as though he was in pain.

"Wait.", Yoris said to me. "How could a little monkey steal something that basically appears out of nowhere and disappears back there?"

"It's a little trinket in my pocket.", I explained. "It helps me summon my shield. It's not 'linked' to me like the DirLuxGun is."

"Hey fellas, I think the monkey is trying to tell us somethin'.", Goofy cut in.

We all turned to look at the monkey, who was yelling and waving his arms. Donald folded his arms over his chest as Goofy knelt on the ground, putting one finger to his lips as he thought about something. The rest of us just stood in place.

Donald tapped his foot on the floor, getting impatient. "Well? Out with it!"

"Yer name's Abu, huh?" Goofy asked the monkey.

The monkey stopped short, then looked into Goofy's face with a "What?" expression on his face. The monkey nodded before rolling his eyes and returning to pointing down the alley toward the main street. Donald grabbed hold of Goofy's arm and began to pull at him, trying to get him to stand.

"Come on, Goofy. Enough with the monkey business."

Goofy resisted. "What happened?"

Abu turned around again and looked at all of us before conceding. He pulled his vest over his head and clutched the ends of it beneath his chin so it pressed down on his head. He then straightened his back and began to walk on his hind legs, swaying his hips back and forth. Abu looked up and batted his eyes in a girlish manner. Then, while still holding his girlish poise, he began to imitate the actions of a royal figure, giving orders and trying to sound distinguished through his monkey voice.

"Wait…", Gregorio realized. "He's playing charades."

Donald snorted at the display, in disgust. "What does he think he is, a princess?"

The monkey then threw off his imitation and pointed at Donald with a grin, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Something to do with Jasmine?", I guessed.

Abu nodded and immediately ran off, gesturing for us to follow him. He then halted in his tracks when realized no one had followed him, and he began to yell frantically once again.

Goofy turned to Donald. "Ya think Jafar got her?"

"Could be.", Donald said sadly. He shook his head slowly and then began to walk away. "We should probably leave before we cause any more damage."

"Say what?", Gregorio gasped.

"Now that doesn't sound right.", Yoris said.

"Yeah!", Sora agreed. "We have to do something about Jafar!"

Goofy sighed, putting one hand on Sora's shoulder. "But we can't. If we did, we'd be mudd—meddling again!"

"Now you got it!", Donald shouted over his shoulder.

"And that's still against the rules!"

"But he knows about the Keyblade!", Sora protested. "He knows about us! And he's looking for the Keyhole, just like we are! We have to do something about him!" Donald stopped, then turned to the Key Bearer, as did the rest of us. "Jafar is with the Heartless. If he finds the Keyhole before us, then this whole place could end up disappearing!" I began to remember that faateful night at Destiny Islands. "I'm not gonna just let something like that happen again. Not if I have the power to stop it." Sora walked to Abu. "Lead the way."

Abu let out a breath of relief and glanced at the rest of us for a second. As Gregorio, Yoris, and I swiftly joined him, he began to run back into the heart of the city. Shortly after, Donald and Goofy joined us.

Part II. A Magic Carpet

The six of us followed Abu through the empty Agrabah streets, ducking into alleyways and slowly making our way into what seemed to be the slums, farther away from the palace. Some of the buildings seemed to be crumbling, many of them even completely abandoned, but they were all of varying heights, ranging from many stories high to only one or two floors.

Abu led us to one of the higher ones and we hurried through the building until we reached its exterior. We then clambered onto the rooftop of the building we just scaled. Abu hurried forward and grabbed hold of a long wooden pole lying on the floor. He handed one to Sora, another to Goofy, a third to Gregorio, and then pointed to an adjacent rooftop. There was a large gap between the two buildings.

"You've gotta be kidding.", I said as I took out my scooter and hopped on it. Everybody, including Abu, just watched as I safely crossed the gap. I then put away my scooter, looked around, and found a large, wide plank. I picked it up, lifted it, turned around, and seeing it was long enough set it between the two buildings separating me from the rest.

However, I saw Sora, with Abu on his shoulders, running to make the pole jump. He made it, but he landed clumsily. Donald, Goofy, Yoris, and Gregorio just sighed and crossed the plank bridge I set up. Once we were all on the other side, Abu continued to lead the way. We climbed up several ladders propped up against the side of the structure and up a few staircases, one of them leading into a large hole in the side of the top floor of a building. It was there that Abu took us.

The staircase led to the inside, which was apparently converted into an apartment. The room was enclosed on all sides by relatively sturdy wall, though they were largely cracked in places. The floor was uneven with bricks slipping out of place. Some of the beams holding up the roof had fallen in places, including one directly over the entrance.

The apartment was filled with a wide variety of items, like old blankets, jars, planks of wood, ropes, and so on and so forth. There were several large, old vases with cracks at the top of one set of stairs and at the base of another, which had a carpet draped over the steps and several throw pillows on top, creating a 'bed'. This second set of stairs stopped at a wall, which had a large, gaping hole in it, covered by a tattered blue blanket hung over it like a curtain.

Abu said something in warning as we entered, climbing onto the fallen beam and smacking its surface with one palm. Sora ducked under it as he entered with a smile, making his way to the opposite wall. I followed closely behind, narrowly hitting the beam. I moved myself under it, joining Sora. Yoris followed and so did Gregorio.

Goofy and Donald took up the rear, and the former had missed Abu's warning. Absent-minded that Goofy was, he hit his head on the beam and would've falled backwards were it not for Donald, who wasn't particularly happy about it.

"Watch where you're goin'!", the duck scolded.

"A-hyuck! Oops! Sorry 'bout that, Donald!"

Sora pulled back the curtain on the other side of the room, and light burst in, blinding everyone for a brief moment. As soon as we adjusted our sight, Donald and Goofy joined us in staring awestruck out the large window.

"Wow…"

The 'apartment' wasn't much, but it had an amazing view of the entire city of Agrabah, including a breathtaking sight of the palace, which was huge; it reached from one end of the city to the other. Its curved golden towers shone in the sun, making the entire palace seem to exude a warm, regal glow. We stood frozen to the spot for a long while, jaws agape.

"The palace looks pretty amazing.", Sora mused. I was snapped out of my reverie and I looked around.

Goofy sighed and lowered his eyes. "Yeah… It's fantastic…"

"I wonder what it'd be like to live there. " Sora hadn't noticed the sad tone in his companion's voice. The boy smiled as he daydreamed. "And have servants… and valets."

Donald snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, people to tell you where to go and how to dress."

Sora laughed slightly at the comment and slowly turned to look at him and Goofy, and was suddenly confused by the sight of their sullen expressions. He glanced back at the palace, then palmed himself for forgetting that they also lost a friend and had to leave their home behind. For some reason, I felt like I had to take out a paopu. Sora saw it and turned in surprise. Gregorio and Yoris turned in surprise as well.

"A paopu?", the three of them gasped. "How'd you get that?"

"I got them after I got this bag.", I explained as I indicated my haversack. "Prior to the destruction of the islands. I don't really know why I took them."

Suddenly, we heard footsteps from behind us, along with a lot of clattering. Inside the 'apartment' came a small man with tanned skin, a thin, black goatee, and a small triangle-shaped mustache. He wore a sky blue robe that reached the floor, a faded red sash tied around his waist, brown sandals, and a white turban twice as big around as his own head. He carried a large sack, possibly filled with loads of stuff. He came up the stairs, went to one corner of the room, and started unpacking his things.

"Are you a peddler?", Yoris asked as I decided to return the paopu into the bag.

"Yes I am.", he said. "I'm hiding from those black creatures who have driven away my customers." He then turned to us. "Wanna buy something?"

Just then, there was a flash and in an instant, Bing was there.

"I believe you have something that I want.", he said to the peddler. All eyes turned to him, then at Bing, and then we drew our weapons. "I guess I can afford a little more time." Bing twirled his halberd.

He made a series of hand signs of some kind, like the ones some ninjas do when performing jutsus, and I could tell that a barrier had manifested around him. It seemed to expand across the room, stopping at where the peddler was as if there was another barrier aroud him. As Bing's barrier formed around the peddler, it also let me, Sora, and Gregorio in, pushing the rest outside through the hole we were looking out from a minute earlier.

"No!", Sora gasped as Donald, Yoris, and Goofy fell out.

Bing then charged for Sora and slashed with his halberd, shoving the three of us back. We quickly retaliated, but Bing parried Sora's and Gregorio's blows, and somehow moved his way to me and kicked me in the stomach. As the man the proceeded to fight off the former two, I took a look at my new Power Orb and thought of what it does. Just then, it glowed and a green aura surrounded me, Sora, and Gregorio. As the seconds passed, I felt my pain disappearing. Bing turned to me and widened his eyes in surprise.

"My Regen!", he cried out in anger.

"So that's what this is…", I said in realization.

Suddenly, he was onto me and he grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. He then shoved me to the wall right next to a cabinet. I turned to see a purple carpet stuck between it and the wall. It had a very intricately designed pattern, but the most notabe aspect of it was that it was sentient and trying to get itself out with Abu's help, who tugged by its tassels at its corners. I almost forgot about him. Just then, Bing let me go as he was hit by Sora. As I dropped to the floor, while the Key Bearer and Gregorio fought Bing, I turned to the carpet, then to the cabinet it was stuck to.

Knowing what to do, I tilted the cabinet just enough to free the carpet, which somersaulted in the air and crashed into the ceiling. While Abu toppled backwards from pulling, Gregorio was keeping Bing at bay while Sora cast Blizzard. Just as Bing managed to aim the barrel of his halberd at the lancer, he was hit by the ice spell and temporarily immobilized. Above, as the carpet shook itself, it turned down on Bing and slammed itself into him, forcing him to stumble.

"It's…a magic carpet!", Sora gasped.

Bing turned to the peddler, then at me, then said, "I'll deal with you guys later!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Gregorio was about to strike Bing when he 'blinked' away. "Dammit! Oh wait!" He ran to the 'window' Donald, Yoris, and Goofy fell off of. "Guys! Where are you?" Sora and I quickly came over and Abu and the carpet followed.

"Over here!", a voice came.

We looked down and saw the three of them on a ledge below. The three of us sighed in relief. They hadn't fallen doen to the streets after all. Just then, they saw the carpet hover right above us.

"Hey! Is that a magic carpet?", Yoris asked.

"Gawrsh! Wouldja lookit that!", Goofy said.

"I didn't think they really existed!", Donald added.

The carpet decided to go down and fetch them, sliding itself underneath the three below and bringing them back up. As we gathered in the room, the carpet proceeded to examine itself, dusting before twirling around in the air in joy. After a moment of this, Abu turned to the carpet and began to communicate with it. The peddler was unharmed throughout this whole ordeal and seemed to have put it behind him.

"That looks like a fine carpet.", he said. "How much will you be selling that for?"

"Sorry, but it's not ours.", I said. "By the way, what is it that you got from that guy?"

"I was having a making business with him one day when he took notice of something of mine. I told him it wasn't for sale, but he was persistent. As he then backed away, he then summoned black creatures, but by that time, I had escaped with what little merchandise I have right here."

"I see." Just then, I remembered something. About the same time, I saw Sora turn around and say, "Hey, Abu? Any chance of you giving back my necklace?"

The rug 'looked' at the monkey in shock, waving a tassel in Abu's face. Abu grinned sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head. But the rug wasn't convinced, grabbed Abu and reached into his vest, searching around in the many hidden pockets, and soon pulled out a silver crown pendant on a thick silver chain, and a small rectangular object that resembled a riot shield. The rug then put Abu gently down on the floor, checking the two items over once, and then holding it out for us to see. The monkey, folding his arms over his chest in annoyance.

Sora smiled, stepping forward and taking the pendant into his hands. "Hey, thanks!"

"Thanks.", I said with him as I took the trinket. I pocketed it, and when I willed it the shield appeared on my right hand.

The magic carpet bowed slightly and rose into the air, spreading itself out horizontally. Abu immediately hopped on board, fixing his vest and hat as he sat down. Then both Abu and the carpet looked over at us expectantly. We widened our eyes as we pointed to ourselves in confusion.

"It wants us to come along?", Donald asked in shock.

Abu rolled his eyes as the carpet seemed to nod in response. The monkey pointed out toward the desert and began to chatter. We all exchanged glances to one another.

"Well, I guess I kinda owe it to the carpet for returning my necklace.", Sora said. "What do you guys think?" He turned to look at his friends, only to find Donald and Goofy missing. He spun around in place, looking for them. "Uh… Guys?"

"What're you doing, Sora?", came Donald's voice. He and Goofy had already climbed onto the magic carpet and were looking at Sora expectantly. Goofy was smiling broadly, one hand extended toward Sora. Donald grinned smugly. "Let's get going already!"

Sora laughed as he replaced his necklace around his neck. He grabbed Goofy's hand and pulled himself up onto the carpet with a grin.

"There's not enough room for all of us.", Gregorio realized.

I decided to dismiss my shield and take out my scooter. I decided to take a look at the buttons on the middle of the handlebars, which I had ignored up to this point.

"And this can only board o—oh wait a minute.", I said as I noticed a button. "If I remember correctly, the notes says that this button…" As I pressed one of the buttons, the 'platform' of the scooter suddenly expanded so that it was as wide as the carpet's whole area.

Yoris groaned. "We could've solved a little more of our travel issues had we known of that earlier." He, Gregorio, and I boarded our new hoverboard.

"All aboard!", I said.

"Wait a moment!", a voice came. It was from the peddler. "Won't you need to buy Potions and Ethers? It's dangerous out there."

"Okay." I got off my scooter and went to the peddler. We had used up some of our supply back at the Phil Cup at Olympus Coliseum, so I decided to buy a couple for good measure. He had taken notice of the paopu I had and wished to purchase some from me. I turned to Sora, who nodded, and I traded in six paopu fruits to the merchant, and received a fair amount of munny. Once I was finihed, I got on my hoverboard.

"Let's go!", I said.

The magic carpet then took off, and I followed right behind, flying out the open window and soaring quickly the city, out to the open desert.

Part IV. Genie of the Lamp

Needless to say, it was very hot as we soared across the hot desert skies. I was sweltering in the heat, and taking swigs from my water bottle, thankful that I had one. Fortunately, everyone else didn't seem to be thirsty. As the hot dry wind billowed into our faces, I remembered to breathe only through the nostrils as breathing through the mouth would result in further dehydration. Grains of sand were thrown into our eyes on occasion, but my glasses spared me from that and having to rub them off my eyes.

"Uh… what're we lookin' for?", Goofy asked as he held his shield above his head.

We all had been looking over our rides, scanning the monotonous landscape of the desert. I merely looked ahead as I was driving the hoverboard. Donald had given up searching and was sitting with his arms folded over his chest.

"We're looking for signs of life.", the duck drawled.

"The Heartless, that Jafar creep, that Bing guy.", Sora continued with a shrug. "Anything that will get us somewhere."

"An awhr ra din!", Abu put in, tugging on Sora's jacket.

We all looked at the small monkey quizzically before looking at one another, then to Yoris.

"While I might know some things without knowing why, understanding an animal isn't one of them."

I turned to Gregorio and inquired about the ear devices Gregorio put on me prior to Deep Jungle. "No can do.", he said. "Apparently, that monkey is speaking in our languange, but more broken than Tarzan's." I sighed in disappointment.

"'Awhr ra din'?", Goofy echoed. "What's that?"

Donald snorted. "Who knows."

"Is it… a name…?", Sora wondered.

"Hmm… That does make it seem more familiar, but why?"

"Awhr ra din, aw ha din, aw ra din…", Gregorio muttered.

"What are you doing?", Goofy asked.

"Trying to jog my memory. Seeing if we heard something like it before."

I resumed driving, wondering what kind of power the scooter runs on. As everyone else fell into a thoughtful silence, Abu jumped into the air, chattering and wailing loudly, and began to make all sorts of hand gestures and movements in an attempt to explain, but to no avail.

"…Awradin, Aradin, Aladin…", Gregorio continued to muse, then stopped short. "Oh, I get it now!" He had stood up in his 'Eureka!' moment, and then started to wobble in the hoverboard. I tilted it so he wouldn't fall off. "I think Abu was trying to say 'Aladdin', right?" The monkey pointed to him in response and chattered happily.

"It could be someone else.", Donald said in a pessimistic manner.

"Let's just assume it's Aladdin for now, then we'll see if it isn't.", I said.

KHKHKHKHKH

The first sign of life appeared late in the afternoon. Abu and the magic carpet were the ones who spotted it, and the former rose a loud commotion over it. We were all aroused from our sitting positions and spun around to look to Abu's direction. I had managed to find the autopilot function for my scooter-turned-hoverboard and it followed the carpet's flight pattern. Suddenly, the carpet decided to dive. Quickly, I deactivated my hoverboard's autopilot and steered it downward.

While Sora, Donald, and Goofy grabbed the carpet's sides as they held on for dear life, I led myself, Gregorio, and Yoris down also, but not in a descent as steep as what the carpet did. I saw the carpet stop and its passengers landed facefirst into the desert sand, we were nearly there when Bandit Heartless popped out of the sand and surrounded them.

As Donald and Goofy got to their feet and pulled out Sora, who ended up half buried in the sand, Gregorio and Yoris jumped off and took out their weapons. As soon as the Key bearer was freed, he coughed and spit out sand from his mouth, ran his hands over his face and hair, then rose to his feet as I reverted my hoverboard into its regular scooter form.

"Thanks guys.", Sora said with a grateful smile.

"Uh…don't thank us just yet.", Donald replied, not looking at Sora.

"Gawrsh, these guys are really persistent, huh?", said Goofy.

"It's like everywhere we go, the Heartless just have to be there, huh?", Gregorio complained.

"Awhr ra din! Awhr ra din!"

I glanced toward Abu and the magic carpet. They had both bee-lined toward a section of sinking sand. The sand was being pulled under the surface, creating a large depression in the desert, and making a loud rustling noise. Trapped in the very middle was a young man, apparently unconscious and sinking. Sora saw it too and looked over to his allies, who had also seen the young man.

"Guys, I—"

Donald smirked slightly. "Yeah, yeah, go help."

"We'll cover ya.", Goofy assured with a thumbs up.

By then, I was already at the sand whirlpool just above the unconscious man. Knowing it'd be too risky for me to try and pull him out, I switched my scooter into its hoverboard form. Just then, Sora hopped on and willed the Keyblade forth. While our friends fought off the Heartless, Abu and the magic carpet were hovering over the 'whirlpool', both of them hanging onto one of the young man's arms and trying to wake him and pull him out of the whirlpool at the same time. The whole time, Abu was shouting the name and making other monkey noises. The young man slowly began to wake up, a process instantly quickened upong seeing that he was up to his torso in the sand.

"Whoa!"

"Awhr ra din!", Abu called urgently.

The young man looked over at the monkey, and he looked relieved and surprised at the same time. "Abu!"

As the magic carpet joined Abu in grabbing the young man's arm and pulling him out of the quicksand, I turned to Sora.

"The Keyblade!", I said. "Have him grab on to it!"

Sora extended the Keyblade forward to the man. "Here!", he said.

All of them turned to look at Sora. Even though he was confused, the young man grabbed onto the end of the Keyblade with one hand, then pulled his other arm out of the quicksand and grabbed it with his other hand. I grabbed on to Sora's other hand and as the man grabbed the Keyblade, I started to steer the hoverboard out of the sand with my other hand.

The magic carpet immediately flew around so that it was behind Sora and grabbed onto his waist. It then began to pull and soon enough, the young man was freed from the quicksand. Once he was pulled onto the hoverboard, he dropped to his knees and took in deep, calming breaths.

As I landed away from the sinking sand, Sora and the young man got off and the latter was about to thank the former and me when we were rejoined by our companions as more Bandits popped out of the ground, swords first.

"Not again!", Yoris complained.

"They just keep coming!", said Goofy..

"We'll have to get to safer ground.", I said.

Just then, the young man rose to his feet and pulled out a golden, antique lamp. He held the lamp carefully in one hand as he rubbed its side with the palm of his other hand.

"I sure hope this works.", he muttered.

The lamp glowed brilliantly as the young man raised it in the air, and gray blue smoke poured out of the lamp's spout.

Suddenly, a loud yell was heard from within the cloud of light and smoke. We all turned at the sound of it in time to see the smoke disperse and reveal a large, blue-skinned man of some sort. He was at least twice my size, though he had no legs — only a tail of smoke from his waist down, marked by a thick red band. On each of his wrists was a single sturdy gold cuff. He was almost completely bald, save for a small tuft of hair popping out of the top of his head. He had long, elven ears, with a golden earring pierced into his right one. He stretched his tired limbs as he emerged with a loud yell.

The young man grinned before returning to business. "Genie!" he called. The blue being turned to look at him and he pointed at the Heartless. "Get rid of these guys!"

The Genie smiled as he turned to look at the Bandits, cracking his knuckles.

"Wish Number One, coming right up!", he shouted eagerly.

He then snapped his fingers in the air, and in a sudden puff of pink smoke and flares, all of the surrounding Heartless vanished. Genie smiled, blowing the smoke away from the tip of his finger and turning back to bearer of the lamp.

We were all surprised and relieved to have had the Heartless vanish so quickly and easily. I then realized that the wish could've been used to get rid of **all** the Heartless. I palmed byself in the face for not realizing this possibiity earlier and not telling the young man sooner. Regardless, we immediately relaxed as we turned around to face the young man with the lamp.

He was probably about twenty years old. He was well built, had dark, shaggy hair that fell slightly into his sharp, dark brown eyes. He was almost dressed like Abu: on his head was a maroon fez, and he wore a simple purple vest too small for him, showing his lean body. He had large, baggy pants obviously been through much wear and tear, held around his waist by a thick, brick-red colored band.

Abu jumped on the young man immediately, screeching something in his monkey chatter, at which the young man merely laughed at.

"C'mon, cut it out, Abu!", he told the monkey, trying his best to sound stern as he spoke.

"You're Aladdin, right?", Gregorio then asked.

Finally managing to pull Abu away from his face, the young man looked over at him in surprise.

"Uh, yeah. But… who are you guys? And how'd you end up here? This place is quite a ways off from the usual caravan routes."

We all looked to one another awkwardly, trying to figure out our cover story. We then turned back to Aladdin.

"Well, uh…", Sora began to say.

"We're on an adventure.", Gregorio said. "We're travelling the desert for parts of…the Great Machine." Donald stared at the lancer sternly. "What?"

KHKHKHKHKH

Later…

It was late at that time, so we used up a Tent, setting it up on one of the larger rocks protruding from the desert sands. We all entered the tent, the Genie deciding to stand guard, and slept for a few hours (and regaining our energy). We were going to need the energy for tomorrow. By early morning, before the sun rose, the Tent disappeared and we seated ourselves on the rocks. The Genie was then hovering several feet above us in a lying down position, his arms folded behind his head. The magic carpet eventually flew in to join us from its dance in the air and rested on the stone nearest Aladdin and Abu.

Donald and Sora had just finished explaining how Abu snatched Sora's necklace (and my shield) and took us out to the desert to find Aladdin. They also told how we fended off the 'monsters' while helping him out of the quicksand. It was a short story, but with all the interruptions including a brief scolding that Aladdin gave Abu, it ended up being a bit longer.

"I see.", Aladdin said with a laugh. "Thanks, Sora."

"Aladdin, what're you doing out here?", Sora asked.

The young man hesitated before answering. He looked over at Abu and the magic carpet slowly, who gestured for him to continue. He then turned back to us.

"Same old stuff.", Aladdin answered slowly. "Hunting legendary treasure. Just paid a visit to the Cave of Wonders. I found that magic carpet, and…" He took out the golden lamp that he used to summon the Genie. "…this lamp."

We all looked at the lamp curiously, Sora and Goofy's eyes growing wide in wonder as they stared at it. Donald merely gazed at it for a brief moment, his arms stubbornly folded over his chest.

"Just looks like a beat up, worthless piece of junk.", the duck grumbled under his breath.

Aladdin didn't hear him. "Legend has it that whoever holds the lamp can summon the—"

The Genie lowered himself from the sky quickly, interrupting Aladdin. "Puh-lease, kid, leave the intros to a professional!", he said, raising one hand in the air. He then turned to us with a large grin and a wink of his eye. "The one and only…" The Genie spun around in place, making a drum roll for himself before exploding outward and posing excitedly. "…**Genie of the lamp**!"

We all watched with wide-eyes and fascinated smiles as the Genie proceeded to make an enthusiastic performance. He bent down and picked the lamp right out of Aladdin's hands and rubbed its side.

"Rub-a-dub-dub the lamp and have your dearest wishes granted.", he explained. "Today's winner is… Aladdin!" With a puff of smoke, Genie vanished and reappeared right next to Aladdin. Confetti exploded from the air and rained onto Aladdin's head. Aladdin ran a hand through his hair in embarrassment. Genie then grabbed Aladdin's other hand and shook it vigorously. "Congratulations!"

"Any wish?", Yoris asked with interest.

"Patience, my dear friend!", Genie said, suddenly popping up in front of him, one large blue hand held up. Then he spun around outlandishly and multiplied himself into three. Each of the Genies held up three of their fingers and made their announcement in unison. "Any three wishes! A one wish." The left Genie vanished in a puff of pink smoke. "A two wish." The Genie on the right vanished the same way. "A three wish!" The remaining Genie grinned broadly. "Then I make like a banana and split!" He then snapped his fingers and followed the examples of his copies.

I giggled slightly, "Banana split. I think I want one right now."

Genie continued his speech. "Our lucky winner made his first wish…" He then turned to Sora with a wink. "And let me tell you, what a doozy that wish was."

Sora could hardly help but laugh aloud at Genie's antics. His grin widening, Genie jumped back again and multiplied himself into two. The two genies went back to back, their arms folded and wide grins on their faces, and did a small, excited dance.

"So he has two left!", they announced loudly before they both vanished again. Genie reappeared alone elsewhere and turned to Aladdin, having turned the end of his smoke tail into a microphone. A loud drum roll could be heard.

"So, master, what'll you have for Wish Number… Two?"

A spotlight appeared over Aladdin's head, bringing our attention back to the young man. We all stared at him, waiting for his answer. Aladdin looked confused at first, but then stopped to think. He cast a sly glance at Abu, and then at Sora, who was still laughing softly at Genie's craziness. He then smiled and turned to look at Genie.

"How about making me a fabulously wealthy prince?"

Genie exploded with excitement. "WHOA! Money! Royalty! Fame! Why didn't I think of that?" Genie bowed slightly as he moved to obey, cracking his knuckles. "Okay, you asked for it! A hundred servants and a hundred camels loaded with gold! Just say the word and I'll deliver it in 30 minutes or less, or your meal's free." He then slung one arm around Aladdin's shoulders. "Hey, I'll even throw in a cappuccino!"

Aladdin laughed, waving his hands in front of him in polite refusal. "No, thanks."

Only then did Genie calm down, backing off slightly. "Okay."

I started to chortle from the antics, especially from his phrases and antics, which I recognized from my world.

"I think I'll put that on hold until we reach Agrabah," Aladdin said slowly.

"Uh, why a prince?", Goofy wanted to know.

The young man's cheeks turned red as he rubbed the back of his neck and lowered his eyes. "You see, there's this girl in Agrabah named Jasmine."

I raised my eyebrows, remembering what happened back at Agrabah.

"But she's a princess, and I'm…" He sighed heavily and hung his head. "Aw, she could never fall for a guy like me."

"Wait…", I said. "Princess Jasmine?"

"That's right!", Sora exclaimed at last. "She's in trouble, Aladdin!"

"What?" Aladdin was hit with an intense sense of urgency. He spun around to look at Abu with an accusing, then turned back to Sora. "Well, c'mon, let's get going!"

The magic carpet lifted up into the air quickly, and Aladdin jumped on board. He then looked over at the Genie with a nod, and the magical being immediately joined his new master.

"Carpet, let's move!", Aladdin said commandingly.

"Wait!"

Before the magic carpet could get far, Donald stepped in put one hand firmly on top of the carpet. His eyes locked with Aladdin's. "We're coming with you."

The young man was surprised. "What?"

"We wanna help Jasmine, too.", Sora said firmly as he climbed aboard the magic carpet.

"Really?"

"Sure!", Sora smiled as I took out my scooter and converted it into its hoverboard form. "Do you trust us?"

Aladdin turned and looked at Sora in surprise, then made a small, sly grin. "Yeah."

"Then let's go!"

"All right! Woo, woo, woo, woo!", Genie shouted, pumping one fist into the air. He then moved in front of the carpet where everyone could see him. He smiled into each of their faces. I set my hoverboard on autopilot as Genie magically put up a chain linking it to the carpet.

"In case of emergency, the exits are…" Arms popped out of the Genie's torso, each of them pointing out in a different direction. "Here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here- Anywhere! Keep your hands and arms inside the carpet!" He demonstrated by squishing his arms to his body. The Genie then returned to normal and grabbed onto the back of the carpet, his smoky tail turning into a fiery rocket engine. "We're outta here!"

The Genie's magical engine blasted the carpet and we were quickly off at top speed, leaving a trail of magical dust behind us, headed for Agrabah. I held on to the handlebars tight as our hoverboard flew at he same speed as the carpet, attached like a train car.

Eventually, the carpet began to slow down, the Genie abandoning his position as the engine. He decided to fly alongside the carpet, took in a deep breath, filling his lungs to capacity, and then released it with a long, contented sigh.

"Ah, fresh air! The great outdoors!"

Sora looked over at the Genie with a lopsided smile. "I guess you don't get out much, huh?"

"Comes with the job," the djinn replied. "Phenomenal cosmic powers, itty bitty living space." Genie sighed. "It's always three wishes, then back to my portable prison. I'm lucky to see the light of day every century or two…"

I sighed, not having considered the idea of genies feeling like prisoners.

"Say, Genie.", Aladdin said at length. "What if I use my last wish to free you from the lamp? What do you think?"

All eyes turned on the young man in astonishment. Aladdin glanced back at us with a broad smile, then to the Genie, who was smiling excitedly.

The Genie could hardly hold back his excitement. "You'd do that?"

Aladdin's smile grew. "Genie, it's a promise. After we help Jasmine."

"Wait.", I said. "How about wishing for a few more wishes?"

"Sorry, but that's among the few things I cannot grant.", Genie said. "The others being not being able to kill anybody, to have somebody fall in love with someone else, and bringing back anybody from the dead."

"Oh. I see."

Part V. From the Desert and Back

Sunrise…

It wasn't long before we reached the outskirts of Agrabah. We decided to stop just outside the city walls, since flying into the city could possibly attract Jafar's attention. As the carpet slowly descended to the ground, I 'detached' my hoverboard from the carpet, and as Gregorio and Yoris hopped off, turned it back into its scooter form and stowed it in my bag. Genie assumed the appearance of a flight attendant and was standing at the front of the carpet.

"Thank you for choosing Magic Carpet for all your travel needs.", he said in a very cheerful tone. "Please remain seated until the rug has come to a full and complete stop." Genie then made himself look like a stern Spanish man. "Permanecer sentados, por favor."

As Donald and Goofy grinned secretly to themselves, I asked. "Was that Spanish?"

"Si.", the djinn answered.

"Knew it."

"It means, 'Please remain seated.'", Donald told me.

The rug then turned one end into a staircase for its passengers to descend. Aladdin, Abu, Sora, Donald, and Goofy then stepped down the 'stairs' and onto the sand.

"Thank you!" the Genie continued, still in attendant mode. "Goodbye now! Goodbye!"

As soon as everyone had disembarked, and the three of us joining them, the carpet returned to normal and positioned itself at Genie's side, who returned to normal as well. We all then entered the dusty streets of Agrabah. We spent the remainder of the trip to Agrabah telling Aladdin the details of what happened with Jafar and Jasmine. The young man had listened intently to the story, a serious, determined look in his eyes.

"So, Jafar is after Jasmine and this 'Keyhole'."

"Keyhole, eh?", Genie repeated, somewhat fascinated. "I could swear I've heard that somewhere before…"

Donald looked at the Genie in surprise. "Really? Where?"

The Genie folded his arms over his chest and tilted his head to one side. "Now, where was it? It's only been two hundred years…"

We looked at the djinn, waiting for him to remember. Aladdin and Abu looked at one another in confusion. At length the Genie gave up, shaking his head.

"Well, anyway.", Sora said, making haste. "We've got to stop Jafar before it's too late."

"You're right.", Aladdin said with a nod. "We've gotta help Jasmine."

Agrabah was just as empty and abandoned as before. The only difference was the long shadows that stretched across the streets and the deep orange tint that settled over the city from the rising sun. Aladdin gazed about him in astonishment and fear from the emptiness as we walked down the main road toward the palace.

We just barely reached the heart of the city when the 'welcoming committee' appeared before us; Bandit Heartless. This time, they were accompanied by Yellow Operas and what seemed to be an Arabian version of the Large Body. Of course, I counted on it being resistant to frontal attacks, but I couldn't help but feel it was more than just that.

We all groaned and brought out our weapons. Abu screeched loudly in fright and hid, turning himself into a hump on Aladdin's back. Aladdin himself didn't have any weapon on his person as he stared at the Heartless solemnly. He then looked up at the Genie, who was hovering alongside the carpet behind us.

"Can you do something about these guys, Genie?", he asked.

The Genie tapped the tips of his fingers together thoughtfully. "Is that an official wish?"

"Better not waste a wish on something **we **could easily grant.", Gregorio said.

The Heartless then charged, the Bandits propelling themselves forward with their blades first. Sora and Aladdin dodged the attack while Goofy used his shield to protect himself and Donald. Yoris proceeded to shoot down the Yellow Operas. Unable to do anything without an official command, the Genie ducked into the magic lamp in a puff of smoke. Donald's first move was to cast Aero on everyone, protecting us with a barrier of spinning air. I then cast Regen, so that we wouldn't need to cast Cure after the battle.

Sora, Gregorio, and Aladdin then charged, the Keyblade tight in Sora's grip as he thrust it forward. Gregorio moved around nimbly, parrying the Bandits' attacks. As Yoris and I provided support fire, Aladdin nimbly dodged the attacks of the Heartless, sometimes missing the edge of the scimitars by a hair and causing Abu to scream in panic.

"I forgot to ask before.", Aladdin said evenly. "but what are these things?"

"A-hyuck! These guys're—", Goofy was about to explain.

"Shadow Bandits!", Gregorio cut in.

"Oh, right." Goofy then whacked one of them on the head.

"Must've been summoned by Jafar."

"Ah.", Aladdin smiled, snatching a scimitar right out of a Bandit's grip. "That'd explain why they're not that smart!"

The Key Bearer glanced over at Aladdin as he defeated a Heartless with its own sword. I laughed as I blocked a fire attack from the 'Arabian' Large Body with my shield, which I was grateful to have back.

"Fat Bandit.", the Diary said as we fought. "Heartless that mostly appear in Agrabah. They are well-balanced offensively and defensively. Besides strong physical attacks, they use fire, and they block attacks against them. Their movement is their weakness."

"Now I know where Abu gets his thief skills.", Sora said with a lopsided grin.

Aladdin laughed. Luckily, he didn't notice my Diary speak. "I taught him everything he knows."

"Kudos, then!" Sora said as he slashed through the Heartless. "You guys are really good at that."

"Well, y'know.", Aladdin replied, shrugging. "Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat. With the way the people of Agrabah are taxed, we've no choice but to steal."

Sora knocked another Heartless away headed for me. He then looked over at Abu, who peered out of Aladdin's vest.

"Just make sure he doesn't steal anything from me anymore."

The young thief grinned. "Deal."

"Y'mean from us, right?", Donald pitched in.

Sora looked thoughtful for a moment. "Nah, he can steal stuff from you."

The duck shot a ball of fire dangerously close to Sora's head. The boy froze in place, his eyes wide in alarm as it hit a fireball Yoris launched, resulting in a bigger explosion that took down two Bandits and a Yellow Opera.

"I was just kidding, Donald!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Goofy laughed. "A-hyuck! Good one, Sora!"

Meanwhile, Yoris managed to land an attack on the Fat Bandit, but it didn't do a thing. I then decided to cast Gravity, and a vortex seemed to form, pushing the Fat Bandit down. Sora then jumped and struck on its head, destroying it.

"Nice one!", I said. "They seem to turn faster than Large Bodies. That's gonna be a problem."

"Large Bodies?", Aladdin asked.

I realized I was close to letting out our secret. "Uhh…"

"Let's get going!", Sora yelled. "Jasmine's in trouble!"

"Right!" Aladdin then ran off with Sora. I sighed in relief from the 'distraction' as we continued down the main street. On the way, Aladdin apologized for not completely trusting us before. He then continued to explain that Jafar thought that Agrabah was his to control, so if he captured Jasmine, he'd be headed for the palace. Sora seemed to have quickened his pace and I decided to pull out my scooter so as to not waste energy running.

The palace seemed to grow larger and larger as they ran down the street toward it. The deep shadows strewn across its surface seemed to make menacing instead of majestic. As we drew closer to the palace, a dark feeling of foreboding slowly overcame us.

It wasn't long before the palace was looming high over our heads. I could make out somebody I definitely could identify as—

"**Jafar!**", Sora cried out.

I also saw a man in green clothes an wielding a halberd. I quickly assumed it was Bing as we brought out our weapons, ready to fight as the two stood in front of the wooden doors. The royal vizier turned around slowly, a wicked glimmer in his eyes. Princess Jasmine was struggling against him, who held her firmly by the shoulders. A grin slowly spread across Jafar's thin face as he saw us approaching.

"No, stay—!"

Jafar clasped one hand over Jasmine's mouth and chuckled to himself in amusement. "So the heroes have at last arrived."

We stopped about ten feet away, weapons drawn, and my scooter stowed. We all glared at Jafar as he stifled Jasmine's screaming and struggling. The vizier grinned at the sight of us, which only futher angered Sora.

"We won't let you get away with this, Jafar!", he shouted forcefully. "Give Jasmine back!"

"Aw, c'mon, guys. That's my line…", Aladdin said.

"Oops. Sorry, man."

Jafar released an evil cackle, still holding Jasmine fast by her shoulders. His eyes wandered from Aladdin to Sora. Jasmine pounded on the hand that covered her mouth, trying to tear it away. Bing just stood there in silence.

"Setting your sights a little high, aren't you, boy?", Jafar said mockingly to Sora. He then turned to Aladdin. "Back to your hole, street rat. I will not allow you to trouble the princess any more."

Aladdin flinched at being called a street rat. Jafar then forcefully pushed Jasmine toward the palace walls and she tumbled to the floor.

"**Jasmine!**", Aladdin cried out.

The princess looked back at Aladdin desperately. "I'm so sorry, Aladdin."

Jafar grinned wickedly as he returned his attention to us. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Yoris, and Gregorio prepared themselves to fight while Aladdin discreetly pulled out the magic lamp and rubbed it behind his back. I got ready to fight as well, standing in a considerable behind Aladdin for some reason as he did his thing.

"Genie.", he whispered. "Help Jasmine. Please!"

Before a battle could begin, the Genie appeared behind Jafar in a puff of blue smoke. The vizier turned around to see the blue djinn scoop Jasmine into his arms and float upwards with a grin.

"One wish left!", he announced. "You're making this really easy, you know."

Around that time, I saw a red parrot zip past me from behind to swoop down to take the lamp from Aladdin's hands. I quickly drew my DirLuxGun and shot it down. The bird crashed just behind Aladdin's feet.

"So sorry, boy!", he cackled as I walked over. "I'm afraid your second wish has been denied."

"You were saying?", I asked as I indicated the fallen bird as it got up and hobbled towards Jafar. "I'm guessing he was supposed to take the lamp?"

The visier just grumbled in annoyance and made a death glare at the bird, who gulped in nervousness before hopping behind his cape. He then turned to the man in green. "I think it's time for what you call 'Plan B'."

"On it.", the man in green said as he 'blinked' out of sight. I now knew for sure this was Bing. He then appeared right next to Aladdin, swiped the lamp from his hands, then 'blinked' back next to Jafar before anybody could do a thing. "Piece o' cake." Bing nonchalantly tossed the lamp to Jafar.

"Excellent work, Bing.", Jafar said as he caught the lamp and closed his long, bony fingers around it. He then turned to the bird. "I'll deal with you later, Iago."

The Genie's arms automatically lowered, releasing Jasmine and finally dropping her.

"I'm sorry, Al.", he said sadly.

The princess screamed as she fell into a large clay pot just beneath the Genie. As soon as the Genie vanished, the pot instantly sprouted spider-like legs from its sides and scurried to Jafar's side. Bing then placed something inside the jar, then placed a lid over the mouth of the jar as the vizier began to cackle.

"The great lamp doth change hands.", Jafar grinned as he, Iago, and Bing turned to glare mockingly at us with a wide grin (to my somehow mild surprise, Iago had teeth).

Donald and Goofy looked at Sora. "Now what do we do?"

"We just get Jasmine and the lamp back.", he answered. "We'll beat those two into a pulp, bust open that jar, and that'll be the end of it." Jafar, Bing, and even Iago both laughed wickedly upon hearing his 'plan'.

"Seriously?", Gregorio asked Sora in a deadpan manner. "That's your plan?"

Their laughing grew louder and louder until it echoed across the entire city of Agrabah. Sora narrowed his eyes at them. "What's so funny?"

"The mere idea of a small boy defeating the likes of me," Jafar laughed. "Keyblade or no, you could never win over me. And now, I bid you all farewell."

Aladdin gasped at this and jumped forward. "Hey, wait a minute!"

The vizier then pointed at us with his staff "Attack!"

Bing then held Jafar's right hand, which was on his staff and Iago held the man's foot. Bing then 'blinked' away and so did everyone holding onto him. As they took their leave, every single pot and jar in the area came to life, sprouting legs and scurrying quickly toward us. Two of them burst open to reveal the tail and the head of something that looked like a blue-gray centipede. I knew right away that it was another Heartless.

"**Jafar!**", Aladdin shouted. "Get back here, you cowardly snake!"

"Aladdin!", Goofy grabbed him by his shoulders. "He's already gone."

"Yep," Donald grumbled. "And we've been stuck with these guys."

Then all of the pots and jars joined together, turning themselves into a long body for the centipede. Jasmine's cries of helps could be heard from within one of the jars, but it was hard to tell which one it was since it was always moving. The Pot Centipede moved itself around so that it had us surrounded. We all pressed our backs together, weapons drawn.

"Okay, let's get Jasmine first," Aladdin said firmly.

Everyone else nodded. "Right." I then cast Regen on everybody.

The Pot Centipede turned its head so that its glowing yellow eyes were on Sora. As we all split up in different directions, the centipede made a vicious charge at him. Sora gasped in surprise before jumping backward and blocking the attack with the Keyblade. The centipede stared straight into Sora's face, its antennae glowing and flailing about in the air, then shoved Sora back and threw him to the floor.

Meanwhile, Gregorio had managed to jump onto one of the pots and started looking for Jasmine. He opened one lid after another in search of the princess, but no luck.

In the meantime, The rest of us were tearing our way through the numerous pots and jars. However, it seemed as though for every jar that we destroyed, a new one would appear in its place.

"This is never gonna end!", Donald wailed as he blew up another jar.

"Don't give up!", Goofy encouraged.

"Aladdin!", Jasmine cried. "Help!"

"Jasmine!", the young thief shouted as he ran toward a jar and looked inside. Upon discovering that it was empty, Aladdin immediately destroyed it and ran to another. "Jasmine!"

The Pot Centipede activated its tails, making it glow and flail in the air just as its antennae had. The two, whip-like tails successfully struck everyone in its path, knocking us back. Though we tried, no one was able to get in a single decent blow. It was a perfect offensive defense. While I proceeded to shoot down the barrels, Sora was shoved again to the ground, an amber-colored stone falling to the ground. As he got up, he saw the stone. It was the summon gem for Simba.

Meanwhile, Goofy fell to the floor with a loud thud. Donald immediately rushed to his side, but was quickly struck from the Pot Centipede's antennae. Yoris continued to break pots, forgetting that Jasmine could probably be inside, but was then zapped by the Pot Centipede's head. The Key Bearer reached for the stone.

With a loud, incomprehensible wail, Donald was sent flying into Yoris and down the main street. The captain of the guard moved in quickly, only to have his feet swept out from beneath him. Aladdin took a hit to the gut as the tails interrupted his latest attempt to destroy one of the jars. Gregorio kept searching, but was soon zapped off.

Sora took the gem into his hands, and brought it closer to him. The gem began to glow softly.

"Sora!", Donald shouted, casting Thunder over the Pot Centipede's head. "What're you doing?"

"We need your help!", Yoris added.

Sora's eyes just widened a he clutched the stone in his hand and brought it close.

Aladdin managed to dodge another one of the centipede's attacks. He swung his sword at the Pot Centipede again, missing. Aladdin cursed under his breath and turned toward Sora.

"Sora, help us out!"

"Sora!", Gregorio gasped.

"I think I know what he's gonna do!", I realized as I stepped back.

Sora shut his eyes, his grip around the stone tightening. "Give me strength.", he whispered in an almost prayer-like fashion.

"He's about to summon!"

The stone suddenly lit up in Sora's hand, beams of light escaping brilliantly through the cracks in his fingers. A force exploded outward in a circle around Sora, knocking all of us down. Donald quacked and wailed as his lightweight body tumbled across the ground until Goofy managed to catch him. Yoris and Gregorio stood teir ground amidst the wind. Aladdin shook his head vigorously, one hand gently rubbing the spot that had bumped the floor. He looked at Sora in surprise.

"What's going on?", he shouted.

Sora held the stone into the air and it flashed bright gold. Beams of light shot out of the floor around Sora's feet and quickly spiraled upward, swallowing him in a spiral of blue light. Sparks flitted all around as the beams slowly came together, circling one another, creating an orb of bright light.

As the light dissipated, the silhouette of a majestic figure appeared. For a long moment it merely looked down to where we stood as though it were a heavenly being. Then it stepped forward, and all the shadow that had once encased the figure vanished, revealing a majestic lion with a floppy red mane. He looked at Sora with eyes that glittered with intelligence. Indeed, it was the summon Simba.

We were all awestruck from the sight. Even the Pot Centipede halted and looked up at the lion. Sora smiled, looking at Simba warmly.

The lion seemed to smile slightly as he took another step forward and unleashed a mighty roar that echoed down the streets of Agrabah and over the desert sands. The pot centipede froze and all of the jars that made up its body rattled against one another loudly. The king of beasts leapt down to the ground, landing gracefully by Sora's side.

"You ready, Simba?" he asked the lion.

"Yeah.", the proud animal responded, surprising Aladdin.

Sora smiled at him, nodding, and then both boy and beast turned their attention to the pot centipede. The Heartless monster flinched slightly.

The Keyblade began to flash yellow as Sora held it in one hand slightly behind him, charging up energy. The fur on Simba's back bristled with majestic power as he bore his pearly white fangs. They aimed for the pot centipede, which stood ten feet away, trembling violently.

Aladdin staggered to his feet, his eyes growing wide. "Wait!"

"Don't worry.", Gregorio assured him as I joined them, then whispered. "She's not here."

Magical energy coursed through their bodies. Sora's hair rippled in an unseen wind, the fur of Simba's mane bushed about his head. Their eyes were shut as their energy built up, forming a golden glow. Then suddenly they both flashed brilliantly. Sora reared the Keyblade back, preparing to swing the weapon with all his might.

Sora then swung the Keyblade and Simba released a powerful roar. Beams of energy blasted through the Pot Centipede, cutting a straight line through its body from head to tail. Everyone watched as all of the jars shattered in turn, blasting wide open one after the other. The head and tail of the pot centipede vanished, having been torn through like paper, dissipating into the air like smoke.

Sora dropped to his knees in exhaustion. The Keyblade was instantly put away as Sora took in deep breaths. Simba disappeared, leaving the amber-colored stone, which spun in the air for a moment before dropping to the sandy floor.

We all hurried toward Sora and helped him to his feet. "What was that?", everyone else asked. "What did you do?"

Sora dusted himself off for a moment. "I… I heard Simba's voice when I picked up that rock. And I just… I called him, I guess. And he came." He picked up the amber-colored rock and raised it. Goofy and Aladdin peered at the rock in fascination. "Just like the Fairy Godmother said."

Donald just scoffed and turned away stubbornly, folding his arms over his chest. "That still doesn't explain much," he grumbled as Sora put the stone away.

"That's some powerful magic, huh?", Gregorio said.

After a moment, Aladdin glanced at us, slightly confused. "Um… what's a fairy godmother?"

"Uhh…there are plenty of magical beings beyond this city and desert.", Yoris explained. "A fairy godmother is one of them."

"She is this nice old lady that knows magic!", Goofy said cheerily.

"So… she's like a genie?"

"Something like that.", Sora answered quickly.

"Okay…" Aladdin then turned to Gregorio and said, "What did you mean by that she wasn't here?"

Sure enough, as we looked around, there wasn't a single trace of Princess Jasmine.

"I found this." Gregorio took out a device. He played it. The device started to emit a sound. It was of Jasmine's cries for Aladdin.

"Apparently, the guy in green, Bing, put this device in the pot Jasmine was in. Then, by some unknown means, they took her away."

"It was a trick.", Donald grunted as Gregorio pocketed the gizmo. "A decoy."

"So then… Jasmine was never really left behind.", Sora said.

Aladdin clenched his fists angrily. "Jafar took her with him and left us…"

"To deal with the monster.", I finished. "We played right into his hands."

Aladdin pounded one fist into half of a wooden barrel in frustration, smashing upon impact. As if on cue, the sound of Jafar's evil cackle echoed off the sandstone walls, seemingly coming from everywhere at once. It then faded away.

"That freaky vizier. Where'd he run off to?", Sora wondered.

"Probably off to that 'Keyhole' he wants.", Aladdin grumbled. "If only we knew where it was. Then maybe we could beat him to it."

"Wait a second!", Yoris gasped. "Where'd you get the Genie again?"

"The… Cave of Wonders."

Sora perked up. "Can you take us there?", he asked. "Jafar might be there."

"What do you mean?"

"The Genie said that he'd heard of the Keyhole before, right?"

Goofy and Aladdin nodded. "Right…", I answered.

"So… the Keyhole might be…"

"In the Cave of Wonders!" Donald finished excitedly. He looked at Sora, impressed. "Wow! So you do have a brain!"

Sora shot Donald an angry look. "Would you stop saying that?"

Meanwhile, Aladdin smiled. He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, calling the magic carpet back, which hid before our confrontation with Jafar. As soon as it arrived, Aladdin hopped on and turned to the others. Abu, who had been on the carpet the entire time, made a confused noise as he stared at his best friend.

"To the desert! Come on, let's move!"

"Roger that!", I said as I took out my scooter and turned it into its hoverboard form.

KHKHKHKHKH

Later…

It was night over the desert. For some reason. It was dawn when we made it back to the city, yet it was as dark as ever in these parts. Well, the full moon and the stars lit the now snow white and blue-grey sand.

The magic carpet circled over the dunes as though it was scouting the area. It zigzagged across the night sky for a few moments before finally descending to the ground, rejoining its comrades. It took us quite some time, but we finally arrived at the Cave of Wonders; the place where Aladdin found the magic lamp, as well as the potential resting place of the Keyhole.

The entrance to the Cave of Wonders was in the form of a mighty tiger head, made entirely of sand. The guardian tiger's mouth was wide open, baring its huge fangs. A warm light emitted from somewhere deep within, casting an orange glow over the small area before it. The tiger head could be seen moving, taking in deep breaths through its open mouth. Two large, glowing eyes stared down at all of us. The guardian tiger then growled, sending deep tremors through the ground and knocking all of us down.

"**Who disturbs my slumber?**", the guardian roared in a deep, rumbling voice.

We could do little more than stare. I was almost about to wet myself. The carpet hovered nearby, wringing its hand-like tassels. Abu concealed himself within Aladdin's vest once again, peering out at the tiger head. Aladdin and Sora turned to look at one another, then the former gestured for the latter to introduce himself, much to his horror.

"Wh-Why me?", he asked.

"Yes, why him?", I asked.

"It already knows who I am," Aladdin said. He shot a look at Abu. "And I don't think it's too happy with me right now. It has to be you."

Sora swallowed hard, rising to his feet. He took a few steps forward. I could feel a breeze moving back and forth from the guardian's breathing. Sora then stopped. "I… I don't know about this…"

"It's okay, Sora.", Aladdin said encouragingly. "Just say your name. Don't worry, it's not gonna bite you."

The carpet floated forward and pushed Sora gently toward the entrance. Sora swallowed as the tiger head turned its glowing eyes on Sora.

"Uh… I… I'm Sora.", the boy introuced himself.

For a long time, nothing happened. The tiger head merely stared at him, considering him. Sora swallowed hard, then looked over his shoulder at Aladdin.

"Wh-What do I do now?"

Aladdin's eyes were wide. "I… I dunno…"

"**You who bear the key…"**, said the all fell silent, gazes turning back to the great tiger head. "**One step closer to universal balance come. Seal away the corrupt and wicked.**"

The tiger head then opened its mouth wide and froze, falling silent once again. Aladdin blinked, surprised and confused all at once. Abu emerged slightly from his hiding place in Aladdin's vest and also gaped up at the tiger head. The two thieves looked at one another, stunned. After a moment, Aladdin moved forward.

"I guess… we're allowed inside."

Slowly, we followed Aladdin and approached the mouth of the cave. Stepping up onto the lower lip, we peered into the tiger's throat once again. In place of the tiger's tongue was a long flight of stairs. One by one, we descended it. When we exited the staircase, we saw a room with torches on either side of it. There were also stone pillars around as well as chasms.

"This wasn't how it was like when I went in before.", Aladdin mused.

Just then, Heartless appeared. This time, Air Soldiers and Green Requiems joined in. We groaned and dealt with them as usual. In the midst of the battle, one of us ended up stepping on a hidden trigger panel. On one tunnel, we heard and felt a rumbling. I turned to an empty tunnel. I then realized what was coming.

"Boulder through the tunnel!", I cried out.

Everybody went out of its possible path…and a Fat Bandit went in it just as a giant stone ball rolled out—squashing the Heartless—stopped at a depression in the area, which I later saw to be a track, and started to roll down it.

"That was a close one.", I said once the boulder was out of sight.

"How did you know a boulder was coming?", Aladdin asked.

"As we told you before, we're on an adventure.", Gregorio explained. "We've seen traps like these in our travels." He winked at Donald, who nodded in the coverup story.

"We should hurry up, anyway.", Sora said. "We've gotta find the Keyhole before Jafar does."

"Yeah.", Aladdin agreed with a nod. "Let's move."

We ran across the room annd found a doorway. We crossed it, and ended up at a hallway. We went on without stopping, except for when a Fat Bandit appeared at the end of the tunnel. I quickly cast Blizzard, but it was countered by a fire breath.

"Now what do we do?", I complained.

"I think I know." Sora then aimed his Keyblade and it glowed purple.

A vortex appeared around the Fat Bandit as it was crushed downward. Sora then jumped over the opening as the Gravity spell ended. Then, he swung at the Fat Bandit, destroying it. We then made our way to a room filled with platforms and traps. There was also a track, possibly for that boulder triggered earlier. There were also statue faces that spewed out water on occasion.

Needless to say, it was a harrowing expedition, taking down Heartless as we went. Eventually, we made it to the doorway of another room. Everyone regrouped there, and then entered. We all peered into the room carefully, curious to see what could be creating the glow. The doorway opened up into a huge cavern, filled to the ceiling with all kinds of golden treasures. We were all rooted to the spot as we stared at the contents of the room in awe. While I have seen plenty of these before, this was the first time I've been before such (unguarded) wealth.

"Wouldja look at that.", Gregorio breathed.

"Gawrsh!", said Goofy. "Just a handful of this stuff would make us richer than... than..."

Aladdin glanced at Goofy and grinned. "Than the sultan?"

Sora's eyes widened. "Yeah! Than the sultan!", he interjected quickly.

Aladdin laughed. "That's what I said when we first laid eyes on this place."

The young thief then turned and continued on his way through the cave. Sora breathed a sigh of relief before following. However, we noticed a few beings around the area.

They had spherical, pitch black heads with two glowing yellow, beady eyes. They wore red caps on their heads sporting two black, angular spirals on its also seem to wear off-white smocks completely covering their legs and thin, fingerless arms. On their front was the Heartless emblem.

"Heartless?", I mused.

Donald stopped drooling from looking at the treasure. He then took out his staff. "Where are they? I'm gonna zap them!"

"Hold it!", Yoris said.

"**Why?**"

"They aren't attacking. Most do upon seeing us. I think they want something."

I took out my Diary, opened it, and just before it could react upon detecting the Heartless, I managed to find its 'settings' and lowered the volume. "White Mushroom. Non-attacking, friendly Heartless. They might give you an item if you help them." I looked at the White Mushrooms, which seemed to be doing charades. One seemed to shiver, another seemed to be fanning itself, and another seemed tired out, with a light bulb appearing over its head.

"Hmm…", I mused. "If I were to guess…they each demand a spell cast on them."

Just then, I saw a fireball hit the shivering one, a Blizzzard spell the fanning one, and a thunderbolt on the "light bulb" one. All three jumped up and down in glee, then entered different characde stances. I turned to Sora, who had cast the spells. I then realized what the 'answers' were and I proceeded to 'answer' accordingly with Sora to the White Mushrooms' charades. Soon enough, after two more 'correct guesses' from each of them, they started to jump in joy before disappearing, leaving behind item pouches. As I made my way to them, Aladdin held out a hand.

"Wait." I turned to the young thief. "Try not to touch the treasure."

"Why not?"

"It's just a rule. Bad things happen if you touch stuff you're not supposed to."

"Are you sure it can't detect if I merely intend to shove it aside or cross it on foot?"

"Better safe than sorry.", Yoris warned.

"Oh, all right."

Sora helped me in taking the pouches and once all three were acquired, we saw that they were a whole lot of Munny in comparison to those obtained from other Heartless. For some reason, Aladdin never seemed to question their dropping of the stuff. My theory was that they could only be seen by non-world natives like us. In any case, after obtaining the Munny (and a few other rare items), we continued onward. All except for Sora, who seemed to have eyed something interesting. Obviously, it wasn't any of the treasure as that was everywhere. When I noticed him stop and look as well, I caught sight of something that didn't seem to belong in the room.

Stuck underneath the lid of one of the golden treasure chests was a sheet of paper. Its edges were torn and browned with age. There seemed to be some writing and images on its surface, but I couldn't make it out. I decided to head to where the page was, bypassing Sora, and carefully took the page out of the chest. Sora and I then examined it.

"What's a piece of paper doing in here?", I wondered. "Oh wait…" When I looked closer, I thought I could see a little piglet drawn into it. Something then clicked in my mind. "I think this is one of the missing pages of that book."

"We better head back to Traverse Town after this.", Sora said.

"Right." We followed everyone else to the next area and I stored the page in my bag. Just then, I entered 'vision mode' once more.

Part VI. The Keyhole

'I' was now in a cavern of sorts. Its stone walls arched upward, creating a wide octagonal room. Statues of strange-looking creatures with large, glowing gems in their outstretched hands lined the upper portion of the walls at regular intervals. Thick pillars of stone supported the walls and ceiling, each of them with a fiery torch. The thick layer of sand that covered the floor gave way toward the middle of the room, revealing blue-gray stone underneath. The stone floor had bulged up in the center. There was a large stone slab in the center, and a a small amount of water seemed to leak from it, creating a shallow moat where the stone floor dipped below the layer of sand.

Jafar stood in the center of the room, smiling wickedly to himself with Iago perched on his shoulder and Bing on his right. There was a jar similar to the ones the Diary called "Pot Spiders". Bing opened the jar and collected Jasmine from it and hoisting her over his shoulder. Jafar's smile darkened at the sight of the princess. Genie, who was hovering nearby, turned away, hanging his head.

The vizier pulled out the magic lamp and, balancing it carefully in the palm of his hand, raised it into the air in the direction of the Genie.

"My first wish, Genie! Show me the Keyhole!"

Genie sighed sadly, his shoulders drooping even more. He turned his head and glared over his shoulder at Jafar. With a grunt, Genie raised one of his limp arms and gestured half-heartedly with his thumb toward one of the walls. Almost immediately, the rocks of the wall exploded forward and tumbled to the ground. The whole room shook as clouds of dirt blocked their view. Once it settled, it revealed a stone archway with a small set of stone steps leading up to it. On either side of the arch were two large, stone pillars with flame designs carved into their surface, supporting only the archway, but the ceiling itself. The arch was lined in red with an intricate Arabian design. The shape of a simple keyhole was carved deeply into the stone. Within the large keyhole shape was another, smaller one. And in the very middle of the second one was the world's Keyhole.

Jafar, Iago, and Bing then released a wicked cackle. Jafar cast a sideways glance at Genie, a sly, evil grin crossing his lips.

"So your reputed omnipotence proves itself true.", he said. "Surely the conquest of the world is to one of your power but a triviality. Would you care to become my ally in this manner?"

Genie folded his arms over his chest and turned his back on Jafar. "Quit yer jokin', o master of the lamp, sir.", he grumbled angrily.

"I didn't get a single word.", Bing said.

"Violating the statutes of the concern are grounds for dismissal, Jafar.", a calm, cool, and creepy feminine voice came.

"Maleficent!", Jafar gasped in fright as she and Xin appeared through a dark portal.

The two approached slowly, taking long but slow strides across the cavern. They came to a stop in front of Jafar and Bing, looking at the latter as he held Jasmine's unconscious body. Maleficent gazed at the princess for a moment, considering her, then turned back to the vizier.

"In truth, I wouldn't regret your dismissal.", she told him coldly. "You are, after all, merely an expendable asset." Jafar and Iago looked at one another once again. Maleficent's cold gaze turned icy as she narrowed her eyes at them. "Remember that."

Meanwhile, Xin was confronting his fellow member. "Drop the princess, Bing.", he ordered. "Save your strength for when the Key Bearer and his friends come." Bing was about to literally drop her when— "Carefully!" Bing lay her gently on the floor. "We wouldn't want to wake her up, now would we?"

"No, sir."

"Good. I see you have lost that Regen orb. Retrieve it at all costs, or else make sure nobody could use it."

"Yes, sir."

KHKHKHKHKH

Once I exited 'vision mode', I realized that I was drenched. We were in a whole new set of caverns. The air was moist and cold, as the caves were filled with water. As I aroused myself from my lying down position, I saw a number of strange looking statues holding glowing gems scattered throughout the cavern, offering the only known sources of light. As I felt the air hit my body, I started to shiver, then realized I wasn't wearing my shirt.

I turned around and saw that nobody, save for Donald, had their shirts on, although they still wore their bottoms. All of our shoes, save for Donald's and Aladdin's, who didn't have any, were lined up in a row a distance away from a staircase leading up. Gregorio and Yoris also had their beanies off to dry, revealing green and blue hair respectively. Donald was squeezing the water off the magic carpet with Abu. I turned to Sora, who was squeezing his jacket and shirt dry.

"That was close.", he said.

"You're tellin' me.", Aladdin answered.

As Sora pulled his jacket back on, I called his name. When he didn't respond, looking out to the staircase, Aladdin decided to come over in his place.

"What'd I miss?", I asked.

"You don't know?", Aladdin said.

"Rael's been spacing out at random times.", Gregorio explained as he squeezed the water off his undershirt and jacket. "So far, he hasn't done that in the middle of a battle."

"Oh all right." Aladdin then turned to me "You see, as we went across the caverns, Abu tripped up a trap. It was a rolling ball of stone, just like in the first chamber. We were all running, even you in your 'spaced out' state. You even took out your flying machine, the one you used when you rescued me back then. We jumped off a chasm to get away from the boulder. Luckily, Carpet managed to catch us. Yoris also steered your machine as we went down. Unfortunately, well…" He gestured to all of us, wet from the water.

"Don't worry, Rael.", Yoris assured me. "Your hoverboard's fine. Apparently, it's waterproof. I put it back in your bag, which miraculously didn't get any water in it."

"Now I see why you tire out more easily.", Gregorio said.

"What's that supposed to mean?", I retorted.

"Well, compared to the rest of us, you're not exactly…fit."

I looked down to see that he was right. There was a sizable bulge in my belly. It wasn't big enough for others to call me fat, but it was enough not to consider me as even close to athletic. I groaned, knowing he was right.

"Fine.", I said. "Let's look for a fire close enough for us to dry off. This air is too damp."

"I agree.", Yoris said as he was currently drying our shoes with what looked like a blow dryer. I just knew it was another of the gadgets Gregorio 'snitched' from the Destiny.

Aladdin shook himself again as he rose to his feet, extending a helping hand toward Sora. Sora didn't seem to move a muscle, his eyes fixated to the staircase. After a moment, he drew in a slow, deep breath, his eyes widening.

"You okay, Sora?", the thief asked.

Sora blinked, snapping out of his daze, and looked up at Aladdin. He then looked at the young thief's extended hand and grabbed hold of it, pulling himself up.

"Yeah, sorry. I just…" Sora turned again to the staircase.

"Gawrsh…where are we?", Goofy asked as he put on his clothes over his black, furry body.

Aladdin shook himself again as his eyes wandered the cavern. "I… dunno."

Abu, who was completely dry, was trying in vain to grab one of the glowing gems in the area. He was held back by Donald, who didn't take off his clothes like the rest of us as his duck feathers were water-resistant and because he didn't have pants. While Aladdin wouldn't see that, he insisted he was okay with not drying his clothes.

"So, uh… where do we go now?", Gregorio asked as he put back on his now dry beanie.

"Well, I'm not going into the water again.", I said sternly. "I don't wanna catch a cold."

"This way.", Sora said as he put on his now-dried shoes and walked his way up the steps. We all turned at the firmness of his voice. Even Abu snapped out of his treasure-induced trance. Without even looking back, Sora made his way up the steps, leaving us behind. Turning dumbly to one another in shock, everyone else quickly finished dressing up (for some reason, there were spare pairs of socks in my bag), then followed. I picked up my bag, put it on, and went with the rest. Donald, Abu, and the carpet flew closer to Sora so that they were in line with him.

"Sora? How do you know…?", Donald asked.

"I don't know.", Sora said slowly. "I don't know how or why, but…" He placed one hand over his pendant, close to his heart. "Something's whispering for me to go this way… I've got this really strong feeling…"

We said nothing more as we reached the top of the stone steps. As we followed Sora down the torch lit hallways of the Cave of Wonders, I stopped at a torch and started drying myself.

"I'm not gonna risk getting sick.", I said.

"But the Keyhole…"

"I won't let a cold hold any of us back. And I don't think an Esuna could cure that."

Everyone else also decided to take a break, stopping to dry themselves at the torches. We were close to the end of the tunnel, where there was a large set of stone doors that arched all the way to the ceiling.

"Gawrsh! Lookit that!"

"Jasmine must be just behind these doors.", Aladdin breathed.

Sora grabbed onto his crown pendant, his eyes wide. With a small smile, Sora shut his eyes. He then turned to look at us over his shoulder and cast a lopsided grin.

"We better get ready soon.", he said. "I can tell that there's a big fight ahead of us." Suddenly, I entered 'vision mode' again. I was getting tired of this.

Part VII. Face-off Against Jafar and Bing

'I' was back at the octagonal cavern, where Maleficent was looking toward the entrance to the chamber. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the empty entrance, waiting. She then frowned. "That boy again?", she said disdainfully.

Jafar, Xin, and Bing glanced toward the entryway sneered slightly. Iago sneered as well, ruffling his red feathers in irritation.

"He's more persistent than I expected.", the visier snorted.

The sorceress shut her eyes and looked away in annoyance. With a sigh, she took a few steps to the Keyhole, away from her subordinate. Jafar narrowed his eyes at Maleficent as Xin followed her before glancing at the princess. He smiled wickedly at her unconscious figure as he returned his attention to Maleficent.

"Why not explain the situation to those two boys Riku and Windelle?", he suggested with a grin. "Doing so may actually prove useful to our…"

As 'I' gasped from this revelation, I heard a splash of water. 'I' turned and immediately, my perspective instantly returned to mine. We had arrived, making it to the center of the cavern, where a caly—I mean, clay jar stood for some reason. Jafar turned and he seemed to be mildly surprised.

"**Wait!**", Iago spoke up, then slapped his forehead with one wing. "How in the he—I mean…" Iago stopped himself immediately and composed himself. "BRAWK!"

I saw through the farce and was able to tell that the bird can talk. But that wasn't important now. What was important was that not only had we confronted Jafar, we also saw Maleficent. Bing and Xin were there of course, but they essentially wore the same clothes. The four villains (not counting the parrot, or was it really one?) stared malevolently at us. Just behind them was none other than the Keyhole itself. Goofy and Donald's eyes widened and their jaws dropped.

"The Keyhole!"

Maleficent turned slightly, glaring toward us.

"That's Maleficent, all right.", Gregorio said.

"And Xin's probably here too.", added Yoris.

"I believe it's time we took our leave.", Xin said. A dark portal then opened and they crossed it. As the portal then vanished, we saw Jasmine lying unconscious by the Keyhole, and Aladdin stepped foward, pointing one finger at Jafar.

"Jafar, let Jasmine go!"

An eerie smile crept onto the vizier's face. "Not a chance. You see, she's a princess—one of seven who somehow hold the key to opening the door."

Goofy blinked. "Open…"

"… the door?" Donald tilted his head to one side.

"But you fools won't live to see what lies beyond it.", Bing said. He then turned to the Genie, who was at a corner with his arms limp at his sides. "Genie! Take them down until none of them are conscious!" Jafar turned to him, seemingly angered. "Genies can't kill, remember? **We'll** have to do **that**."

"No can do.", Genie said. "You are not my master."

Jafar cleared his throat, then said, "Genie! My second wish." He glareed toward his enemies. "Do as Bing commanded!"

We all gasped in horror, Aladdin the most. "Genie.", he pleaded, sounding desperate, confused, and crushed all at once. "No!"

The Genie glanced sadly before looking back down at the floor with a disheartening sigh. "Sorry, Al. The one with the lamp calls the shots. I don't have a choice."

Aladdin shook his head slowly in disbelief as he drew his scimitar. "Genie…"

Bing twirled his halberd and planted its tip into the sand. An invisible barrier expanded outward from him, just like before. It took all of us in, but Donald, Abu, and the carpet were shoved all the way out. The barrier then stopped close to the only exit and the Keyhole. As for Jasmine, she still lay on the ground, vulnerable to attack.

As Bing pulled out his halberd, I started by casting Regen on everybody. Jafar snorted at Genie's hesitation and my maneuver, then aimed his snake staff at Aladdin. A magical red beam shot out of its mouth, bee-lining toward the thief. Sora reacted to it first, shoving Aladdin out of its path just in time, only to receive the hit…and be immobilized. He was then lifted high into the air, presumably 'grabbed' by the neck as he started grabbing onto his throat.

"**Let Sora go!**", Yoris cried out as he launched a fireball. The vizier saw the attack coming and blocked it with the tip of his snake staff. The movement of his staff sent Sora flying across the room, released from Jafar's magic. The young boy smacked painfully into one of the stone walls, and then dropped down to the floor. Yoris was then hit by Jafar's beam.

"Sora! **Sora!**", the duck was saying, unable to help.

Meanwhile, Gregorio, Aladdin, and I were fending off Bing as he slashed and shot relentlessly, now 'blinking' around like there's no tomorrow. We stood back to back, blocking his attacks.

Jafar turned on the Genie in disgust. "Did you not hear Bing, djinn? It pains me to look upon such wastes of flesh! Finish them!"

Horrified at what Jafar had done, Genie squeezed his eyes shut. "Sorry, guys…"

He then held his arms out and began to spin around in place as quickly as he could. Beams of lightning flew out of his extended fingers in every direction. The cavern was instantly thrown into complete chaos. Goofy froze in place, eyes wide as he held out his shield. Luckily, not a single Genie bolt was striking near him.

"Gawrsh."

"What's this, Genie?", Jafar laughed mockingly as he 'moved' Yoris into a Genie bolt. "You seem to have missed!"

Aladdin gritted his teeth with hate as he struggled against Bing, who had seperated him from us. Just then, a stray Genie bolt hit him at the foot, forcing the samurai to hop in pain. Aladdin took advantage of this and slashed at Bing with his sword, but the latter managed to knock it off his hands, then teleported away. The sword landed with a clang, skidding to a stop a few feet from the stairway.

As he started to run for his sword, Jafar saw him, 'hurled' Yoris to a wall, and shot out a red beam of light to stop him in his tracks. However, I stood in the way as I backed away from a Genie bolt. The bolt hit me at the right, where I held my shield. As I continued to block his attack, Aladdin managed to retrieve his sword and decided to charge. Jafar turned his staff to zap the street rat, taking my shield off my hands and hurling it right into him and he stumbled to the ground next to the cannoneer.

I quickly recalled my shield as Jafar cast a spell. An icy wind circled the center of the arena, which Goofy and I were caught in. I started to move out of the area of effect as blocks of ice hit me in places. Goofy however, started to run around the room in a wide circle. As the ice storm stopped, amidst the Genie bolts, I moved toward Aladdin and Yoris and cast Cure on them. While Regen does heal gradually, they were in such critical condition that a Cure was necessary.

"All better?" I asked as soon as the spell was finished.

"Yeah, thanks.", said Aladdin. I then turned to Jafar and decided to fire at him.

Meanwhile, Gregorio was going mano a mano with Bing, who kept 'blinking' back and forth in front of and behind the lancer, striking at every opportunity.

"Why do you guys always seem to want to go against me?", he complained as he ducked from a swing from Bing's halberd (and a Genie bolt that hit the blade).

"I haven't a clue either.", Bing replied as he struck his opponent with an electrically-charged halberd blade. He was then hit by a stray Genie bolt which was reflected off my shield as I shot at Jafar. He turned to Genie, who shouted out apologies over the roar of his own lightning and Jafar's laughter. "Watch it! I'm on your master's side!"

While Jafar just watched as he deflected every single shot I doled out on him, my DirLuxGun suddenly stopped firing.

"What?", I gasped.

_Out of power._, I heard a voice say in my head. _I need a direct light source to be able to fire again. _

_Direct light source?_, I thought as I retreated, raising my shield to defend against Jafar's beam attack.

_The gems here are reflected light._, the voice replied._ I need things like sunlight or 'fire' light. Moonlight and mirrored light won't do._

"Dammit.", I cursed under my breath. I turned to Jafar and cast Gravity. As the vortex surrounded him, he stopped his beam attack, waved his staff and the Gravity spell dissipated. Then, I saw Bing headed straight for me, Gregorio right behind him. As I started retreating from the samurai, I saw two fireballs strike Jafar's side. The vizier staggered, and Iago squawked in alarm, hopping from one of Jafar's shoulders to the other. Shocked, Jafar spun around to face…Yoris and Sora, the latter having cast Fire.

Jafar stared at the two boys in surprise for a brief moment before grinning evilly. He then began to laugh, as if taunting them. They fired again, but this time Jafar deflected it, sending the fireballs to a stone wall where it sizzled out.

"Is that the best you've got, little boy?", the visier taunted.

"Not on your life!", Sora growled.

The vizier's grin broadened. "Then I invite you to try again."

I decided to stop looking as I was suddenly attacked from the back by a halberd swing. I stumbled to the floor, and Bing continued to fight against Gregorio over my body. Meanwhile, Goofy and Aladdin were evading Genie's (apologetic) attacks, unable to aid in taking down either of their real enemies.

Just then, I heard Sora call Aladdin's name. I couldn't see what he was trying to say as the effects of Regen had worn off. I then heard him say, "Gregorio! Goofy! Yoris! Keep them busy!"

I then decided not to just lay down here anymore and decided to dismiss my weapons and roll away, hoping I'd not trip up Gregorio in the process. However, I did trip up Bing and he fell over. As I got up, I heard Jafar say, "Looks like this will be easier than I thought."

"This is gonna be fun,", I heard the bird say with a snicker.

Once I turned to see my surroundings, I saw Yoris attacking Bing as well, who didn't seem to be 'blinking' around as often, clearly tiring out. Meanwhile, I saw Sora haul himself up to the platform Jafar was on. He came up slowly behind, smiling slightly to himself.

"Think again, Jafar."

The vizier turned in shock from hearing Sora's voice. Before he could even react, Sora swung the Keyblade at him. Jafar was knocked to the side, pushed off the platform about to land right on me as I stood below. Iago escaped, flying up to the ceiling on the rooftop and landing on one of the statues. Jafar then used his snake staff to hover in the air above me and cackled at Sora's expense.

"So sorry, boy! Better luck next time!"

"Wrong again.", Sora said as he then performed Strike Raid, throwing the Keyblade straight for Jafar. As soon as the Keyblade hit him, a fireball struck him from behind, followed by the edge of something large and heavy, then something sharp. The vizier turned around in a rage to face his attackers; Yoris, Goofy, and Gregorio. The captain of the guard then chuckled slightly and pointed to the Genie, who still spun in place with lightning bolts flying from his fingers. As soon as Jafar looked at the djinn, one of his lightning bolts struck him in the arm.

"**Slave!**" he shouted in a rage. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Sorry 'bout that, master.", Genie deadpanned, still shooting lightning bolts.

Jafar clenched his teeth, throwing Sora across the room once again with the power of his snake staff. He then threw himself at the rest of my comrades, shooting beams of fire at them. Bing had teleported on one of the statues next to Iago, hanging out of reach. I was tempted to shoot at the hand he was using to hold onto it, but I remembered my DirLuxGun was out of energy. I decided to join in stalling Jafar with the others.

While Jafar was busy with our comrades, Sora and Aladdin rushed toward the Keyhole and Jasmine respectively. They helped each other up onto the platform at the Keyhole. As soon as they were both on top of the stone platform, Aladdin dropped his scimitar and ran to Jasmine, kneeling at her side. He scooped her up into his arms, shaking her gently.

"Jasmine! Jasmine, wake up!"

Sora peered over Aladdin's shoulder, looking at Jasmine worriedly. "Is she gonna be okay?"

"I think so," Aladdin told him quietly. He then looked at Sora in surprise. "Hey! Sora, don't you have something to do right now?"

"Oh right!"

Slightly embarrassed, Sora straightened himself and pointed the Keyblade at the Keyhole. He took in a deep, calming breath, trying to focus. But before anything could happen, one of Genie's lightning bolts struck the floor between Sora and Aladdin. Sora fell back onto his butt with a loud yelp.

Goofy shifted his attention away from distracting Jafar and looked over at his friend and howled in surprise. "Sora!"

"What?" Jafar spun around in the air to look back at the Keyhole. His eyes widened upon seeing Sora and Aladdin. Sora stared back at Jafar, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Oops."

The vizier narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth together angrily. He zapped the rest of us, paralyzing us with one shot before turning back to Aladdin and Sora. Unbeknownst to him, in spite of my twitching muscles, I cast Esuna and we were quickly revitalized.

"**How many times do I have to kill you, boy?**"

I then raised my hand and one of my yellow Power Orbs glowed. Then, it was as if an invisible ceiling crashed on our enemies. A barrier flashed around Jafar, the skill obviously not affecting him. Bing however, was hit and he fell to the ground. Iago was hit too but it wasn't enough to knock him off his perch. The Genie was also hit as his arms seemed to lower for a while, but he resumed firing bolts, which unfortunately hit us, paralyzing us again.

I then saw Jafar turn his snake staff on Sora and Aladdin and the eyes of the snake head flashed red. At once, the two rose up into the air, their bodies glowing red. The Genie stopped spinning about and stared up in horror. We could do nothing but watch. I was out of magic power to cast another Esuna, or any magic for that matter.

Iago grinned as he watched the scene from his high perch. "Squeeze 'em, Jafar!", he chanted evilly. Genie slowly floated up so that he was just behind the parrot, hands clasped underneath his chin and his eyes cast skyward. Iago didn't notice him. However, I noticed as I then turned to Bing, who was drinking a Potion.

I didn't dare cast Regen on all of us as Jafar might notice the green aura that would appear on Aladdin and Sora. I wasn't able to control the spell to affect only specific targets, only me and all my allies at once. I was out of magic power anyway.

"Squeeze 'em like a—" Before Iago could finish his sentence, Genie casually elbowed him, sending him flying beak-first into the wall with a loud "AWK!" Bing didn't seem to move at all as he rested.

"Face it!", Jafar cackled. "You are both powerless against me! Without the Genie, street rat, you're nothing!"

Aladdin strained to cast a glance toward the Genie. "The Genie…"

Jafar then looked at Sora. "And your power is not your own! You thought you could defeat me? I have the power of the Heartless on my side, boy!"

Sora groaned, clutching the Keyblade tightly in his hand. Aladdin turned to look at Sora.

"S-Sora…he Genie… Jafar's power…"

"W-What? What're you… talking about?"

Aladdin made a mischievous smile, then mustered up whatever strength he could and turned back to face Jafar.

"Th-The Genie… Genie has more power… than you'll ever have!"

Jafar narrowed his eyes at Aladdin. "What?"

Genie looked at Jafar and then back at Aladdin, twiddling his thumbs nervously. "Al, what are you doing? Why are you bringing me into this?"

Sora stared at Aladdin in shock for a moment. Then, he smiled weakly and turned to Jafar, struggling to speak up as Aladdin had.

"S-So what if I got this far because of the Keyblade? It chose to give its power to me!"

"But you've been using the Genie's power to succeed!"

The vizier's right eye twitched at the words. Aladdin and Sora were grinning now, continuing to mock Jafar as much as they could. Aladdin and Sora were slowly lowered to the ground at each insult.

"The Genie and that Maleficent lady have more power than you could ever hope to have!"

"Compared to them, you're just second best! As a matter of fact, I think **she** trusts that Xin guy more than you!"

"Without the Genie… Without the Heartless… You've got nothing!"

Aladdin and Sora grinned at each other, pleased with themselves. On the other hand, the rest of us looked horrified. However, I can't help but hope that there was a gambit of some kind in all this.

"You're right.", Jafar muttered. "Their powers exceed my own!" He then glanced at the Genie. "But not for long…"

The Genie tried to smile through his terror, moving cautiously toward Jafar. "Those boys are crazy!", he told him with a nervous laugh. "They don't know what they're saying! Between you and me, I think you might've cut off the circulation to their brains…"

"**Genie!**", Jafar shouted, raising himself into the air. "My final wish! I want you to make me… an all-powerful genie!"

I raised my eyebrows in realization as the Genie sighed sadly. "Your wish is my command.", he said reluctantly. He then glanced at Sora and Aladdin, somewhat disappointed. "Way to go, guys."

Sora and Aladdin looked at one another nervously, still struggling against the invisible force that held them in place. Unable to stand it at all, Genie put one hand over his eyes, turned away, and pointed his other finger at Jafar. A blast of magical energy shot out of Genie's index finger and struck Jafar's body.

"**Jafar! You fool!**", Bing cried out as he got up. Apparently, Bing seemed to realize it too.

Strings of what looked to be electric energy engulfed Jafar's body. At first it seemed as though Jafar was in pain, curling up with his hands on his stomach, dropping his staff right into my hands as I struggled to move. While I was paralyzed, I wasn't immobilized and could still move, if only slowly. I was somehow compelled to stow the staff inside my bag and that's what I did.

I then watched with the rest as Jafar's body began to grow. His skin turned red and his clothes were torn through as large muscles bulged up all over his torso. His nails sharpened into claws and his eyes began to glow yellow. His entire appearance kept me thinking of the devil. Jafar slowly straightened, his deep laughter making the cavern rumble. Huge cracks suddenly split the ground into pieces and the floor fell through. Boulders and water flew up into the air and we all dropped into a large room beneath the floor, leaving Donald, Abu, and the carpet at the stairway.

"**Sora!**", Donald cried out as we fell.

"**Yes!**" Jafar laughed. "**The power! The absolute power!**"

We were all released from our paralysis just as Sora and Aladdin were dropped from Jafar's magical grip. As soon as he could, Sora shielded all of us with an Aero spell before we hit the ground.

"What did you do?", Gregorio shouted at Aladdin and Sora once we had landed painfully.

"Trust us!", they shouted back.

"I think I know what they're up to!", I said.

Just then, I saw Bing fall down nearby. Just before impact, he seemed to 'blink' away, then reemerge on the same spot, only the other way around as the momentum from his fall was now directed upwards. Gravity then countered that and he fell to the ground with a thud. He quickly got up, halberd in hand to confront us.

Suddenly, the ground we stood on began to break, revealing a river of molten lava beneath their feet. Lava began to pour out of small openings in the surrounding walls, filling the room. The stone platforms cracked from the heat of the magma and floated on its surface, constantly moving as the pieces bumped into one another. We all grouped together, staying away from the edges, Bing following us. We focused on our own survival and ignored him. We hastily climbed up to the taller stone platforms, trying to get away from the lava. When we got as high as we could, we returned our attention to Jafar. He loomed over us all, thrilled with his new powers, laughing hideously.

"The universe is mine to command!", he boomed. "To **control**! **Fear me, Maleficent!**"

Just then, Iago swooped down to the ground and scooped up a small black lamp, similar in design to the Genie's, with his talons. Sora, Aladdin, and I turned to look at him, eyes wide. Aladdin then pushed Sora gently toward Iago.

"Go! Get Jafar's lamp!"

With a solid nod, Sora gripped the Keyblade and charged at the small red parrot.

"Oh no, you don't!", Bing said as pushed us aside and pursued Sora. Gregorio quickly pursued him.

The ground began to break apart at the edges, with large chunks of rock and stone starting to drift in the flow of lava like logs in a river. Jafar flexed his large muscles with another loud laugh. He then dropped his gaze so that he was looking at the rest of us. Goofy cowered behind his shield, his whole body trembling. Jafar delighted in the terror and grinned.

"However…", His grin darkened. "Before I move onto anything elaborate, I believe a little house-cleaning is in order." With a deep, wicked chuckle, Jafar dug his arms into the lava.

Sora adjusted his grasp on the Keyblade and swung, evading a few bullets as he did so.

The evil genie pulled out a giant, smoldering ball of fire and lava. He cackled, raising the ball high over his head, ready to crush us beneath it.

"**Vanish, maggots!**"

"Not so fast, Jafar!" Sora called out, stepping bravely forward. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Jafar turned his attention to Sora, raising one eyebrow questioningly. The rest of us turned their gazes on the Keyblade master as well. I looked behind Sora and noticed the red parrot sprawled out on the ground near Sora's feet. Bing was held in place by Gregorio, who pulled his javelin to himself from behind the samurai. Sora smiled and raised the black lamp that he held in his hand higher, so that we could all see it properly.

"Back to your lamp!"

Aladdin turned to look up at Jafar with a grin. "You wanted to be a Genie, you got it! And everything that goes with it!"

The evil genie's eyes grew wide. "What? How…?"

"Somebody told me that genies are bound to serve the master of their lamp.", Sora said matter-of-factly. "Let's get on with it. My commands are absolute, y'know?"

Golden shackles suddenly appeared on Jafar's wrists with a loud clamping noise. Jafar stared at them in shock. He then looked down to where his legs would've been and discovered a smoky tail leading to the small mouth of the lamp in Sora's hands.

"**No!** This can't be!"

"You shouldn't have done that, Jafar!", Bing cursed. "Now look at what's happened!"

His smoky tail turned into a small red and orange twister as Jafar was sucked into the confines of his new lamp. Sora held onto the lamp firmly with both hands. The twister intesified as Jafar tried to resist, reaching up to try and grab onto something. Iago, having regained consciousness, looked about him nervously and immediately decided to escape.

"I'm gettin' outta here!", he shouted as he began to fly away.

Right at that moment, Jafar's hand clamped onto one of Iago's legs. The parrot cawed in shock as he was dragged down into the lamp with Jafar. Iago flapped his wings wildly as he strained to escape. He reached down and swatted at Jafar's hand in a vain attempt to make him let go.

"Come on, you're the genie!"

"**Gyaaaah!**"

Then suddenly, all went silent as the pair was finally sucked into the lamp. A single red feather popped out of the mouth of the lamp and fluttered to the floor.

"Phenomenal cosmic powers.", Aladdin grinned. "Itty bitty living space."

"How do ya like your new house, boys?", Sora teased.

Just then, Bing stomped on Gregorio's foot, forcing him to cry out and loosen his grip, then wrested himself free and swiftly snatched the black lamp. He quickly ran a short distance away and turned to us.

"I'll be heading back now with this.", he said. He pointed his halberd at us. "Nobody moves, or I'll rub this lamp!" None of us made a move, especially Sora, after all that work in 'sealing' Jafar.

"Get your blasted beak out of my face!", Jafar said from inside the lamp.

"Oh, shut up, you moron!", Iago replied from there as well.

"Both of you shut up.", Bing said. "You could've wished to possess the phenomenal cosmic **powers** of a genie. Or for your sorcerer powers to **equal** a genie's. But noooo, you **had** to wish to **become** a genie and look where it got you. I'm taking you to Maleficent for—"

Suddenly, he bumped his head into the blue Genie's outstretched arm. Bing swiftly turned to him. "You too, blue Genie! I got one of your kind, and I'm not afraid to—"

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in the back. The moment Bing had turned towards Genie, Gregorio had silently rushed towards Bing and then thrust his javelin into his butt.

"Oww.", Yoris said. "Right into the coccyx." (1)

"Huh?", Sora asked.

"Aaahhh!", Bing cried out as he suddenly fell to the floor, releasing his grip from the lamp. Suddenly, a pool of darkness began to form underneath his body and it absorbed him, just like with Jia. I then realized that that critical blow somehow **killed** him. Gregorio then went over to pick up a few things from where he fell.

Just then, an old, crumpled up piece of paper fluttered out of the sky and landed on top of Sora's head. He blinked in surprise and confusion as he peeled the paper off of his face and stared at it.

"What's this…?"

He turned it over and examined both sides of it, confused. As I came over to see, I saw there was writing all over the page. The handwriting was slightly messy, but still legible. I read some of the writing, trying to figure out what the paper was. Then, it seemed to dawn on Sora.

"The Ansem Report!", he gasped.

"The Ansem Report?", I asked.

"**Sora!**"

Goofy tackled Sora to the ground, embracing him tightly. Genie joined them at once, gathering all of us in his arms for a big group hug. He lifted us all into the air, holding on tight. Finally, Genie released everyone and patted each of us playfully on the head.

"Excellent work, kiddies!", he said to each of us.

As Sora put the page of the Ansem report away, Gregorio grinned teasingly in Sora's direction. "Well, well, well. Donald would be proud. Wouldn't have guessed by lookin' at you that there's a brain in there somewhere…"

Sora glared at his fellow island friend. "Care to repeat that?"

Gregorio just laughed as he patted Sora on the back. Goofy chuckled, his hands still resting on Sora's shoulders. Sora looked at each of us in turn and smiled. Genie messed up Sora's hair before plucking Jafar's lamp from where Bing dropped it. He held it carefully between his index finger and his thumb and raised it close to his ear. He shook the lamp vigorously, then clasped his big hand around the black lamp and began to wind up his arm like a baseball pitcher.

"This friggin' lamp should be…!" Genie froze mid wind-up. He suddenly pulled out a small shovel and began to dig a hole in the ground. "…buried!"

"Uhh… 'Buried'?", Yoris asked.

I took out my scooter and turned it to its hoverboard form. Just then, Donald headed down to where we were on Carpet. Abu was right beside him.

"Donald!", Sora greeted.

"Come on, Sora!", he said as he extended a hand toward Sora and the others. "You still got a job to do."

Part VIII. Sealing, Disappearance, and Good Will (2)

"So now that we beat the bad guy, all that's left for us to do is seal the Keyhole, right?", Goofy said.

We all nodded to him. We all faced forward as the we made out way back to the Keyhole on Carpet and my hoverboard.

"And rescue the princess.", Donald added with a nod. "Then we'll all live happily ever after."

"Just like in the fairy tales!", Goofy laughed.

Sora just smiled wistfully. 'Like a fairy tale…?'

"But this ain't a fairy tale.", Gregorio said. "This is real. We'll have to work for our 'happy ending'. And even then…"

Genie put one hand over his eyes and scanned the area. He drew his lips into a straight line, a stunned expression on his face. "Speaking of the princess… Where'd she go?"

Aladdin glanced at the Genie, confused. "What do you mean? Jasmine should be right…"

We came to a stop near the Keyhole, disembarked our rides, and looked around. Genie was right; there was no sign of Jasmine anywhere. Aladdin immediately spun in place, making sure we were on the right platform. He ran to both sides of it, looking over the edges in a state of panic.

"Jasmine? Jasmine!"

"Dammit.", grumbled Gregorio. "Should've put a tracker on her."

Sora got off of the carpet as well and was about to help Aladdin when a big blue hand grabbed hold of his shoulder. The Genie wagged one finger at Sora and tut-tutted at him.

"Not so fast, Keyhole-boy." He turned Sora to face the Keyhole. "You've got a job to do."

We came up from behind, and Donald and Goofy gave Sora a hearty pat on the back. Donald then looked at the Keyhole, a determined gleam in his eyes.

"Seal it up, Sora."

He stared at the Keyhole for a moment before pulling out the Keyblade. Sora held onto the weapon with both hands for a moment. Then, taking in a deep breath, Sora adjusted his hold on the Keyblade and held it out with one hand, its tip pointed at the small Keyhole in front of him.

As the tip of the Keyblade began to sparkle, the Keyhole outlined itself in an orange glow. Beams of blue light and yellow stars began to swirl into the tip of the Keyblade. Once the power finished accumulating, then a thin beam of bright blue light shot out of the end of the Keyblade. The Keyhole suddenly began to glow bright gold. Flashes of light appeared all around, getting pulled into the Keyhole by a powerful unseen force.

When the lights finally vanished, a loud clicking noise came. What looked like a rain of a million gold coins began to build up like a curtain. The shimmering of gold built up from the bottom to the top, and as soon as the large keyhole was filled with gold, it shone brilliantly for one last moment. As the bright lights vanished, the Keyhole disappeared along with it.

"That should do it.", Sora said with a smile.

As soon as he said that, the entire cavern began to rumble. Rocks and pebbles rained on our heads from above. Eyes wide, we all turned to look up at the crumbling ceiling. One small chunk of stone struck Donald on the top of his head. Goofy pulled out his shield and held it protectively over his own head.

"We'd better get outta here!", he wailed.

Genie scooped up Goofy and Donald and dropped them onto the magic carpet. "I think we've overstayed our welcome, don't you? Everyone on the carpet!"

Sora spun around on his heel and jumped onto the carpet. I hopped on the hoverboard and Gregorio and Yoris jumped on too as Genie created that chain again and linked it to the carpet.

We were just about ready to leave when we realized Aladdin was missing.

"There he is!", Donald shouted. "Over there!"

The duck pointed at one of the other platforms, where Aladdin was still busy searching for Princess Jasmine. He searched about him, spinning in place with a desperate, frustrated look on his face. Aladdin cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled as loud as he could.

"**Jasmine!**"

The carpet flew over to Aladdin. Sora stretched one hand toward him. "Aladdin! Get on!"

The young man spun around to face us, his face panic-stricken. He stared at Sora with wide eyes. "But, Jasmine's still…!"

"You know those two people with Jafar and Bing?", Gregorio told Aladdin forcefully. "They're our enemies. They took her away! I'm sure of it!"

"Yeah!", Donald agreed.

"To **another world**!", Sora added.

Aladdin's eyes grew wider still. "Huh?"

Donald and Gregorio snapped their heads to look at Sora, shocked and upset.

"My story was good enough as it is, Sora.", Gregorio grumbled.

Sora glanced at him and Donald, knowing he had said too much. He ignored the look his friends gave him, grabbed onto Aladdin's arm and helped him onto the carpet.

"There's no time to explain! Let's get going!"

Genie suddenly pulled out a clipboard and pencil. "The Keyblade gang? Check. The Gun of Light gang? Check." I raised my eyebrows, as I never told him about my weapon. "Al and Abu? Check, check. Magic carpet?"

"**Genie!**", I cried out. "**Let's get the ***k outta here!**" (3)

Everyone turned to me, shocked for a moment from what I just said. The clipboard instantly vanished and the Genie put his hands firmly on the back end of the magic carpet. His smoky tail once again turned into a rocket engine and fired up.

"Right! All systems go! **Blast off!**"

The Genie's magical engine sent us forward at top speed, leaving a trail of sparkling blue dust behind. We all gripped onto our rides, fearing for our lives as we blasted through the Cave of Wonders. The ceiling continued to fall apart, huge chunks of stone raining down everywhere. The floor of the cave began to break, revealing rivers of lava, which slowly rose and churned, eating away at the walls. Stone pillars turned into rushing fountains of hot magma.

We all kept our heads low as we raced through the cave, shifting from side to side in unison to keep up our speed. I found the feature that lowered the hoverboard's handlebars so that I could lower as well and that it not get exposed to the debris. Shards of rock flew dangerously toward our heads, and we all leaned one way or another to help the carpet dodge. They barrel-rolled to the sides and dove forward so often and abruptly that it was slowly becoming harder difficult to hang on.

Finally, after a couple of harrowing minutes, we made our way to the first rooms of the Cave of Wonders, which miraculously haven't broke apart yet, and we made it out through the tiger head, which maintained its position as we zoomed all the way back to Agrabah, not once looking back.

KHKHKHKHKH

Midday in Agrabah…

Aladdin sat down on one of the uneven stone steps in his apartment home. He cradled his head in his hands. The peddler was still there, but he chose not to interfere in this delicate matter.

"So, Jasmine's no longer in Agrabah…"

The Keyblade master nodded firmly. Donald only glared at him with his arms folded stubbornly over his chest. Sora glanced at Donald and sighed, knowing full well that he had broken Donald's rule.

"I'm sorry, but I had to break that non-interference thing to get him to snap out of it.", he told the duck softly.

"My excuse was good enough as it is.", Gregorio grumbled. He then turned to me. "By the way, I found these from Bing." I looked in his hands and saw what looked like a small disc. "It's another 'part'. Also…" He took out two green Power Orbs. One had a skull and crossbones inside it, and the other a speech balloon with an ellipsis (…).

"Poison and Silence.", I muttered. "I wonder how we didn't get burnt just by being around the lava? I'll have to ask Merlin about this."

"Sora, let's go find her.", Aladdin said as he stood up.

Sora turned to look back at Aladdin. Donald then elbowed him in his side and with a disappointed, remorseful sigh, Sora hung his head.

"Sorry.", he told Aladdin quietly. "I can't take you with me."

Aladdin was taken aback. "Wh-Why not?"

Goofy twiddled his thumbs, his eyes lowered to the ground. "I sure wish we could…"

"But we can't," Donald finished. He gave Aladdin a sympathetic look. "If we took folks from one world to another, we would be…"

"Muh… Meddling." Goofy strained to get the word out.

"Thank goodness!" Donald shouted, throwing his hands up into the air in exasperation.

Aladdin sat back down, letting out a heavy sigh. Abu sighed sadly as well, sliding off of Aladdin's shoulder and plopping down onto one of the worn out pillows.

"I guess you're right.", the young thief said. "Things would get chaotic if people could just cross worlds like that."

_At least he understands why…_, I thought.

"Well, if we can't take Aladdin, then…", Yoris muttered to us.

Sora looked up at Aladdin. "Aladdin, we'll find Jasmine." The young thief looked surprised and blinked slowly. Sora just smiled back, clenching one hand into a tight fist. His smile deepened as he gave Aladdin a firm nod. "I promise."

A faint, grateful smile played on Aladdin's lips. Genie then rushed to Aladdin's side and gave him a hearty thump on the back.

"Uh, earth to Al? Hello? You still have one wish left!" Aladdin's eyes snapped open, his breath caught in his throat. The Genie grinned, placing his lamp into Aladdin's hands. "Look! Just say the word. Ask me to find Jasmine for you!"

Aladdin slowly turned his sad gaze onto the Genie. "But, Genie…"

The Genie just grinned and nodded his head. Aladdin looked down at Abu, who kept switching his amazed stare from Aladdin to Genie, his monkey eyes wide in his head, and shrugged his shoulders. With a disheartened sigh, Aladdin looked down at the lamp and just stared at it for a long, silent moment. Then, pressing his lips into a tight line, he made up his mind.

"Alright. I'll use my last wish."

The grin on Genie's face grew as he prepared to cast a spell. He rolled up a pair of imaginary sleeves and cracked his knuckles.

"I wish…for your freedom, Genie."

The djinn froze. His eyes grew wide as he stared at Aladdin in surprise. "Al!"

A smile appeared on Aladdin's face as he lifted the lamp into the air with both hands, which slowly levitated out of Aladdin's hands, emitting an orange glow. Blue smoke spilled out from its mouth and encompassed Genie's smoke tail, purple and pink sparks flying about his body. The small purple tornado that had formed started to glow brightly and the Genie's body began to sparkle. Genie squeezed his eyes shut as his arms were stretched out to the sides. Then suddenly, there was a large, magical explosion. We all shielded our eyes from it, and when we looked back, the Genie was standing on his own two legs. The golden cuffs on his wrists unclasped and released him before vanishing in a twinkling of blue-white lights.

As the Genie's feet touched the floor, the lamp shook violently, its orange glow flickering for one last moment, then dropped and clattered on the dusty floor. The Genie stared at the lamp for a long, silent moment. He then slowly reached for it and picked it up carefully in one hand. He looked at Aladdin, still shocked.

"A deal's a deal, Genie.", Aladdin said. "Now, you can go anywhere you want. You're your own master!" He then lowered his gaze and glanced over at Sora. "But if you can… It'd be great if you could go along with them and… help Sora find Jasmine."

The Genie looked thoughtful for a moment, putting one hand under his chin. He then folded his arms over his chest and turned his back to us.

"Sorry, Al. But I'm done taking orders from others."

We all stared at the Genie for a long, silent moment in a stunned manner. Sora, Donald, and Goofy exchanged shocked looks. Goofy even let out a small, sad whimper. Abu growled angrily, waving one fist threateningly. I palmed my face, knowing that somewhere, we haven't thought this through completely.

"But… a favor.", the Genie continued in a sly voice. "Now that's entirely different. I suppose I could give that a try." He looked back at Aladdin with a wide grin. We all sighed in relief. The Genie slipped an arm around Aladdin's shoulders, still grinning. "After all, we're pals, right, Al?"

Aladdin slowly turned his gaze back to the Genie, a pleading look on his face. "Genie…"

The Genie's grin only grew. "Just leave it to me!", he said with a cheerful wink. Aladdin just looked at the Genie for a moment, trying to think of something more to say. Then, Aladdin laughed lightly as he ran one hand through his hair. The Genie then pulled Aladdin into a tight embrace. "You set me free, Al. I'll never forget that."

Still at a loss for words, Aladdin just hugged the Genie back. "Thanks."

All of a sudden, I was in 'vision mode' once again.

KHKHKHKHKH

'I' was back in that dark room again where those villains were. Several figures were gathered around the circular stone table. Faint green and blue lights illuminated their faces. I recognized Hades among them, back from Olympus Coliseum. He seemed to narrow his eyes in annoyance as the last hologram disappeared. The flaming blue hair on the god's head turned slightly orange for a moment in his anger.

"That smarmy vizier could've had 'em.", he sighed, frustrated. "If someone had stuck around to give him a hand."

"Looks like Bing has failed.", Xin lamented. "He was a valuable asset."

Hades then looked accusingly at two certain silver-haired boys. 'I' gasped in shock, seeing Riku and Windelle with them. The former rolled his eyes to the side to look at him, annoyed.

"Hey, I did my part.", he told Hades gruffly. "I brought the princess, didn't I?"

"Yeah.", Windelle added, although it seemed…different.

"Jafar was beyond help.", said Maleficent evenly as she stood with her back to the table. She shut her eyes and raised her chin slightly, taking a deep breath. "Consumed by his own hatred. One should beware of letting it burn too fiercely."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Lighten up, huh?", Hades said quickly, running a hand over his fiery blue hair. "I'm as cool as they come, okay?" The god then turned to the boys with a wry smile. "By the way, kids, have we got something special for you."

He glanced first at Hades before turning to the dark mistress in confusion. "Huh?"

The tall lady looked back over her shoulder. "We had a deal, yes?" Maleficent asked. She then glanced at the stone table and waved one hand toward it. "You help us, and we grant you your wish…"

At the wave of Maleficent's hand, a new 3-D holographic image appeared over the surface of the table. It flickered for a few moments before finally settling in on the image of a young girl with short, crimson colored hair. She was lying on her back, face up with her eyes shut. The boy's eyes lit up in excitement when he saw the image.

"Kairi!", Riku breathed, his eyes wide.

"Go to her.", Maleficent instructed. "Your vessel is waiting."

Footsteps echoed down the dark, empty hallway of stone. 'I' turned to face the newcomer. At first it was hard to see him, but the dim green light slowly fell upon the newcomer's features.

He was a tall man with wavy black hair that fell just past his shoulders. He wore a long, fancy red coat with golden trimmings, with the white ruffles of his shirt sticking out at the chest and cuffs. His brown pants cut off just below the knees and tight white stockings could be seen underneath. On his feet were a pair of black shoes with gold buckles. Atop his head was a large, maroon captain hat with a large white feather, which he tipped to the side with his right hand as he approached. His left hand was apparently missing, replaced by a large, iron hook. The man grinned, his thin, pointed moustache making the gesture seem all the more wicked.

"Just remember," he sneered with a wink of one of his bloodshot eyes. "This is no pleasure cruise. It won't be a pleasant voyage."

Riku merely snorted in the newcomer's direction, then glanced back at the hologram of Kairi before turning to Maleficent and Xin. The tall, elegant woman was looking intently into the green orb on the tip of her staff, her back still turned on him. The man in green just stared at the two blankly as Riku narrowed his eyes at them with suspicion.

"Why are you doing all this for me?", he asked firmly. "What's the catch?"

Maleficent turned around, a mildly surprised look on her face. "Catch? 'What's the catch'?" She sounded somewhat shocked.

"The burden of dark ones like us.", Xin muttered. "There's **always **a catch."

She then moved toward Riku, putting one hand gently to his cheek. "Silly boy. You're like a son to me. I only want you to be happy."

He smacked her hand away from his face angrily, jumping back. "I seriously doubt that.", he growled.

"Like we'd believe that.", Windelle scoffed.

The sorceress straightened, the smile wiped from her face. "Believe what you wish.", she told him as she turned away. "But lest we forget, I kept my end of the bargain."

Riku gritted his teeth, his hands in tight fists at his side. He narrowed his eyes at Maleficent then looked one last time at the hologram of Kairi. He stared at it for a moment, then finally turned away and walked to where the hooked pirate awaited him down the hall.

"Wait…", Windelle said. "What about **my **deal?"

The holographic image then changed, showing a blonde girl in yellow clothes and a blue headband. It was Florina. She seemed to be fighting off Heartless with her RefLuxGun and was surrounded in an aura of some kind. She was also dodging the attacks on her with grace and ease.

"We have pinpointed her location.", Xin said. "Go with your friend Riku. You'll find her."

"We'll see." Windelle then turned around and joined Riku down the hall.

Maleficent watched him as he left, gently stroking the green orb on her staff. Xin watched as well, halberd tight in his hands. Suddenly, the 'vision' ended and I was back at Agrabah.

KHKHKHKHKH

"Here. Take this with you."

The Genie picked up his old lamp and zapped it, shrinking it down to size and attaching a small chain to it. He then handed it to Sora, who smiled as he took the gift into his hands.

"Um, thanks, but… aren't you coming with us?"

Genie walked over to Aladdin's window and thrust back the curtain. He breathed in the fresh air, a wide grin on his face, and then glanced back at Sora.

"I'll be around, enjoying my freedom.", he told him. The Genie then floated out the window, saluting everyone as he made his exit. "I'll be with you through the lamp. I'm not bound to it anymore, but whenever you need me, just gimme a ring. You know how it works."

Sora looked down at the small lamp keychain in his hand, then back at the Genie. He grinned before waving goodbye. "Okay, Genie! Enjoy your freedom!"

"Believe me, I will! And another thing for your friend." He tossed what looked like a red Power Orb to me. I managed to catch it, and saw a dragon depicted in it.

"If I remember correctly, I think that thing summons the great dragon Bahamut. Use it wisely. He's very powerful." The Genie then grinned as he took off into the sky. "Yo, Al! I'm history! No, I'm mythology! Oh, I don't care what I am. I'm free!"

Aladdin just smiled as he watched the Genie vanish out of sight. He ran a hand through his dark hair and laughed.

"I'm gonna miss that big blue lug." Aladdin turned back to us as he sat back down. "So, I guess you guys are taking off too, huh?"

Sora tucked the lamp keychain away and dusted himself off. "Guess so," he said. "Guys?"

Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement and turned to leave the apartment. Donald marched down the steps as Goofy grinned back, waving one hand in the air. Then, not watching where he was going, he hit his head the fallen beam with a loud, stunned "A-hyuck." Gregorio and Yoris turned to leave as well. As Sora turned to follow after them, Aladdin reached over and grabbed onto Sora's arm.

"Sora…"

He turned back to look at Aladdin, who looked at him sadly.

"Please find Jasmine for me," Aladdin said softly.

"Don't worry, okay? We'll bring Jasmine back. Just wait and see."

"It's a promise.", I found myself saying. Aladdin did his best to smile as he released Sora from his grip. Sora's grin grew as we turned away, waving goodbye. "See you around, Aladdin!"

"Hey.", Aladdin called after him, stopping us in our tracks.

"Yeah?"

The thief smiled. "Call me 'Al'."

Gummi Ship Time: Practice, Convection, and a Space Whale

The Destiny was making its way back to Traverse Town with the Excalibur, which seemed to not be flying in the usual way. As it turned out, Sora was on the controls, with Donald teaching him. Gregorio activated the communications system, but kept the video contact one way so that Sora could still watch where he was going.

"The more we travel, the more stuff we gotta find.", Donald grumbled, folding his arms over his chest. "We should just post a sign on the Gummi Ship advertising ourselves as personal get-backers. 'Items recovered or your money back.'"

Sora sighed. "Aw, stop it already…"

"What?" Donald quacked. "We're lookin' for stuff anyways! The way things are going, it's like we're straying a little further from our objective every step of the — WAK! Look out for the asteroid!"

Gregorio had the Destiny fire its blasters at said asteroid, vaporizing it.

Jiminy glanced over at the driver's seat as the Excalibur shook violently. "How're lessons going, Sora?", the conscience called.

The Key Bearer looked over his shoulder at Jiminy with a grin. "Great!"

"**Eyes forward, Sora!**" Donald quacked, his eyes wide.

"Whoa! Sorry 'bout that!"

"You keep this up and I'm really not gonna let you drive again! I won't even let you sit up here anymore!"

"Hey, I said I'm sorry! I swear I won't get distracted this time."

"You better not!"

Behind them, Goofy and Dale were fiddling with the small lamp keychain and the Keyblade, trying to figure out how to attach one to the other.

"I think I'm starting to get the hang of this.", Sora said with a grin.

"Well, that's a relief.", Jiminy sighed. "For a second there, I thought we were doomed!"

"Jiminy, not you, too!"

Donald laughed. "You're just not as good a driver as I am, Sora."

"Hmph. Just watch me. I'll show you that I can be an even better driver than you!"

The duck rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest. "That'll be the day."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the cockpit, Goofy and Dale clapped their hands excitedly as their combined efforts to attach the lamp to the Keyblade finally succeeded. After detaching the keychain given back at Deep Jungle, they then watched in amazement as the Keyblade transformed.

It now had a simple, brown handle with a yellow pommel resembling the top of an Arabian building. The guard was mostly gold, though its base was sky blue, and shaped like a curled heart. The base of the blade was also sky blue, but the rest of the blade was gold. The teeth arced downward from the tip of the blade and they vaguely resembled the handle of Genie's old lamp, which was currently the Keychain.

Goofy and Dale exchanged amazed looks.

"I just need to practice a little.", Sora told his doubters. "It'll be just like learning magic."

"Oh? So how good has your magic gotten, Sora?", Jiminy asked.

"Well…" Sora chuckled.

"Not very good.", Donald snorted.

"Hey! My magic's almost as good as yours, y'know!"

"No way! Not in a million years."

"Well, I'm sure I'm better at magic than Rael is."

"He's using Power Orbs to cast magic.", the court wizard countered. "He won't need skill to cast spells anyway. Although it's less powerful than those from experenced wizards like me."

"Why don't you go see Merlin?", Goofy suggested as he approached his friends, the Keyblade in his hands. "Work more on your magic?"

"That's a good idea.", Sora said with a grin as he retrieved the Keyblade from Goofy and dismissed it. "Well then, we're heading for Traverse Town!"

"Aren't headed for Traverse Town anyway?", Yoris asked.

Goofy clapped his big gloved hands excitedly. "Oh boy! Traverse Town, here we come! A-hyuck!"

Donald rolled his eyes. "You're just gonna make a fool of yourself."

"Oh yeah?" Sora said. "Alright then. Let's make a bet."

The court wizard gave Sora a sly look. "A bet, huh?"

Jiminy looked horrified and raised his umbrella objectively in the air. "Stop this right now! There will be no betting!"

Sora smiled. "If I can prove to Merlin that my magic has improved, then you have to let me drive to the next world. Deal?"

"Okay.", Donald said through his mischievous grin. "But if you can't, then hands off the wheel until I say so."

The Key bearer looked thoughtful for a moment. "Deal."

They shook hands firmly, sealing their bet. Jiminy hung his head, disappointed. Donald turned away, rubbing his hands together and snickering to himself. Sora smiled cheerily as he returned his full attention to driving the Gummi ship.

"Don't worry, Jiminy.", Gregorio said. "You should only worry when **munny **or other material worth is being wagered."

"Still…"

"You know, I've always wondered about something.", I said. "When we were fighting Genie Jafar in the lava, the stone platforms seemed to float. That just isn't possible. Also, we were around lava, for crying out loud! We should've been toasted already from the hot air, not that I'm not thankful that isn't the case. Also, it should've been so bright we shouldn't have been able to see. I wish to consult with Merlin about this. Maybe the Barrier Jacket phenomenon also shields from hot air and just as it shields from burning. As for the lava not being too bright…"

"Maybe.", Gregorio said. "Well, it's better to ask anyway."

We had been sailing through the stars for a while when we spotted something unusual in our path. To us, it looked like a large, dark blue-gray ball, floating in the middle of nowhere.

"What is that?" Donald wondered aloud.

We all leaned forward over our ships' respective dashboards, squinting our eyes.

"Wow, it's huge!", Sora breathed.

They all stared at it for a while longer in confusion and amazement. Then suddenly, it moved forward, growing bigger and bigger by the moment. It turned itself slightly to the side, revealing its entire body. Goofy's eyes grew wider.

"It's a giant whale!" he shouted in shock.

It was at least two hundred feet long, with a huge box-shaped head. Its powerful tail whipped up and down, somehow propelling its body forward, even though this was outer space, where there was no water to push against. There was a small hump two-thirds of the way down its back. Ridges could be found on the skin between the hump and the whale's tail flukes. The whale opened its mouth wide as it charged forward, revealing many huge, cone-shaped teeth.

"A space whale!", I gasped.

Both our Gummi Ships shook as the whale zoomed past us, despite the fact that there was no water to disturb. We all had to grab hold of something to stay on their feet. Chip could be heard shouting orders at Dale as they tried to keep the engine stable. Jiminy looked terrified, recognizing the massive creature.

"It's Monstro!", he gasped.

"Monstro?", the rest of us chorused.

"He's a whale of a whale, and vicious besides!"

Just then, Monstro came around. He turned on the Gummi Ships, straightening his long body out so that they were in line. Then, with a mighty flick of his enormous tail, Monstro charged. Donald quacked in alarm and began to jump in place, clinging onto the back of the driver's seat.

"Sora, get us out of here!"

Sora threw the engines into reverse and tried to back up as quickly as he could. Gregorio followed suit, shooting the whale with the Destiny's blasters. But the giant whale was too fast and powerful. I looked through the 'windshield', eyes widening even more. Monstro was practically on top of us, his mouth wide open.

"Too late!", Sora shouted. "He's gonna swallow us!"

We all screamed as the darkness within Monstro's mouth engulfed us. Our Gummi Ships shook violently. Alarms started to go off. The lights in the cockpit flickered and then turned red. We were pushed around as the ships were knocked from side to side. We clung onto whatever they could to keep themselves steady.

Suddenly, everything went dark around me as I lost consciousness.

KHKHKHKHKH

'I' was having another dream again. This time, it seemed to be of Pinocchio in Traverse Town. He was walking down to the square in the empty Third District when he saw an opaque barrier of some kind. Depicted on it was an open book. Curious, he decided to walk to it and touched it with his wooden hands. Suddenly, behind him came a shadowy figure. He turned around and was about to scream, but the dream suddenly ended. (4)

**Abu**

_Aladdin's faithful furry sidekick. Abu's size and ability make him valuable in tight spots. He's got a weakness for jewels and treasure, and when he's around them he can't think of anything else._

_He was all monkey-business in "Aladdin" (1992)._

**Jasmine**

_Spirited princess of Agrabah. Longing for a life of freedom, she slipped away from the palace and encountered Aladdin, who she quickly grew fond of. As one of the princesses with the power to open the Keyhole, she was abducted by Jafar and the Heartless._

_She appeared in "Aladdin" (1992)._

**Jafar**

_The vizier of Agrabah. He joined forces with Maleficent and tried to control the Heartless. He gained control of the lamp and became a powerful genie, but was defeated by Sora and his friends._

_He played the villain in "Aladdin" (1992)._

**Bing**

_A member of Maleficent's group. He was assigned to assist Jafar in searching for Princess Jasmine. He was a proficient fighter who can teleport around the field, but he was soon defeated._

**Carpet**

_A magical flying carpet, loyal to Aladdin. Carpet can carry passengers over the vastness of the desert at great speed. The Heartless had Carpet pinned to the floor under a chest._

_He enchanted us in "Aladdin" (1992)._

**Aladdin**

_A young man living in Agrabah. He helped Sora defeat Jafar and used his last wish to release Genie from the lamp. Aladdin asked Sora and friends to help save Jasmine, who has been abducted._

_He stole the scene in "Aladdin" (1992)._

**Genie**

_The spirit of the magic lamp, who has been freed by Aladdin with his third wish. Genie has joined forces with Sora and friends to rescue Jasmine from captivity. _

_He granted our wish by appearing in "Aladdin" (1992)._

**Iago**

_Jafar's cunning, crotchety parrot. He's Jafar's eyes and ears as he flies around Agrabah, spying on his master's enemies. Iago takes after Jafar, with a penchant for intrigue and evil._

_He squawked around in "Aladdin" (1992)._

**Pot Centipede**

_Its long body is composed of a number of Pot Spiders linked together. Even if its body comes apart, it can regenerate itself by gathering other pots._

(1) Go to the website Cracked . com (minus the spaces) and search for "The Most Efficient Way to Do ... Everything" by Robert Brockway to see why.

(2) A STEALTH pun on the Arc Words "**S**ora, **D**onald, and **G**oofy".

(3) Yes. As early as this, I decided to do a 'non-euphemised', but censored profanity.

(4) There has to be a reason how Pinocchio ended up in Monstro, so this is my reason; he was kidnapped. But by who, I either won't say or don't know.

-See ya on Third.-


	12. Chapter 10: Monstro

nightelf37: Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there (or the manga), or even the movie where the current world is based on, I 'own' it. And here is 'my' current Power Orb inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Fire, Cure, Esuna, Aero, Gravity, Regen, Poison, Silence

(skills) Shield Boomer, Sky Dropper, Boomer Blast

(summons) Baloo

In storage:

(spells) Thunder, Blizzard

(summons) Bahamut (not 'activated' yet)

nightelf37: 'I' used 'Boomer Blast' during the battle against the Opposite Armor and Jia, and Sky Dropper during the battle against Jafar and Bing in the Cave of Wonders, during the 'invisible ceiling' part. Decided to put this in to keep track.

Chapter 10: Monstro

Part I. An Encounter, a 'Reunion', And a Chase

I was having yet another dream…

_It was a nighttime in the islands. Everything was quiet, save for the waves crashing on the shore and the night critters chirping. Suddenly, a portal of light appeared out of nowhere. Out of it emerged four individuals._

_One was a bonde girl in yellow clothes and a blue headband. One was a boy with a green beanie, pants, and jacket, and orange shoes and undershirt. One was another boy with a blue beanie, t-shirt, and shorts, and green shoed and vest. The last was a silver-haired boy with a silver shirt, grey pants, and black boots._

It's them!, I thought.

_They fell to the sand as the portal disappeared. Time sped up and nothing seemed to disturb the four until the sun rose. Time then seemed to slow to normal and Sora, Kairi, Riku, and their island friends came over to the beach. This seemed to be only a few years or months before my arrival at the islands. Upon seeing the four, they quickly came to their assistance._

_"Who are these, ya?", Wakka asked._

_"Do you know them, by any chance?", Riku asked Kairi._

_"No. I'm certain I don't know __**or**__ remember any of them."_

_"Well, what should we do?", Selphie asked._

_"What do you think?", Sora replied. "We're not leaving them be."_

_"Where do you think they came from?", Tidus wondered._

_"Apparently, not from the same world as Kairi.", Riku said._

KHKHKHKHKH

I slowly opened my eyes as I woke up from my dream. I was in my seat, strapped tight thanks to the seat belt. The nose of the Destiny was pointed slightly downward. There were a few emergency lights on. I seemed to be the only one inside. I undid the straps on my seat and slipped out of it. I made my way out of the cockpit, crawling up the slight upward slope. Luckily, the lift seemed to work and I used it to get down to the hallway. None of the gadgets to my right seemed to have fallen off. However, there seemed to be a note on the shelf holding them. I took it and read it.

"The Transwarp Room is down for repairs. Take the room to the left and look for a hoop in the floor. There's an emergency exit there. Use it to exit the Destiny.

Gregorio"

I pocketed the note, wondered why that AI that gave me the Diary hasn't been communicating with us lately, then followed Gregorio's instructions. I made my way into the living room and after searching in the dim light of the emergency lights, I found the hoop and puled on it. A hatch opened, showing a ladder leading downwards. Left with no choice, I made my way down the ladder in the darkness. I eventually found 'light' at the end of the tunnel. When the ladder ended a few feet above the 'floor', I let go of the ladder and landed.

My feet touched on a squishy pink floor. It moved slightly under my feet, giving me an unsettling feeling. I raised my eyes and looked around, trying to figure out where we were. It looked like a large, cavernous room. Everything was pink or red, drenched in water and slimy fluids. The whole place had a very organic feel to it, which creeped me out. The air itself was warm and humid. There was a large body of some sort of liquid nearby, with tall pillars of wood scattered all throughout.

"Are you okay?", a voice came.

I turned to see Sora, who was perfectly fine. "Yeah.", I replied. "I'm okay."

"Knock it off!", we heard another voice.

We turned around and saw our companions staring up at one of the large pillars. Donald was the one who made the shout was tapping one webbed foot on the wet floor, muttering something under his breath. Goofy stood with his shield over his head as a small box suddenly flew out and landed near their feet. Yoris and Gregorio just looked on. There were several different kinds of boxes and chests littered around them. We approached carefully, our shoes making a loud squish with every step.

Goofy turned his head slightly and looked at us, a concerned look on his face. "Hey, guys. Are you okay?"

Sora and I nodded, the former rubbing at a small bruise on his head.

"What are you guys doing?", Sora asked. "Where are we, anyway?"

Suddenly, another small chest fell to the floor, flying toward me. I quickly called out my shield, and the block hit it.

"Whoa!", I gasped.

"Uh, ya know, I think that big ol' whale Monstro just swallowed us.", Goofy chuckled.

I gulped in nervousness and so did Sora. After all, we were just practically eaten by a whale. I turned around to see a set of large sharp teeth behind us. It was hard to believe that Donald and Goofy seemed to be fine with the idea, but the fact that it was somehow airtight, being out in space and all, and that there was oxygen inside the whale… Plenty of questions about the impossibility of this flooded my mind, but my thoughts were interrupted by Goofy.

Still smiling, the knight glanced upward. "And for today's weather: expect showers." Just then, one more box dropped on top of Goofy's shield. The captain of the guard laughed nervously as the box fell to the ground. "Heavy showers!"

"Hey! Who's there!", Gregorio demanded.

A head suddenly popped up from inside a red treasure chest. It was the head of a young, bright-eyed boy with dark black hair and a yellow hat. His skin looked strangely fake, like polished wood. We all turned to him and I realized who it was. The boy smiled at Donald and waved one gloved hand in the air.

"It's me.", he said cheerfully.

The duck relaxed. "Oh, it's just Pinocchio." He did a double-take. "Pinocchio!"

"Wait! Wasn't he at Traverse Town?", Yoris asked. "How did he get here? He certainly didn't get here on a Gummi Ship."

Right at that moment, Jiminy hopped up onto Sora's shoulder and joined us in staring at the live puppet with a stunned expression on his face.

"Pinocchio?"

The boy puppet pulled something out of the treasure chest and began to walk away. It looked like a huge green block, made of some strange substance. Unless I was wrong, and I might very well be, Pinocchio had just walked off with a giant green Gummi block. I glanced at Gregorio in confusion, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Pinocch!", Jiminy called again, "Where are you going? Pinocch!"

There was no answer from the puppet. Pinocchio leapt from one wooden platform to another, carrying the Gummi block in both arms. He then looked to us for help. "Come on, everybody! After him! Quick!"

We looked at Pinocchio as he jumped from pillar to pillar, then back at Jiminy. "And how do we do that?", I asked. "It's not like we can jump onto those platforms."

"I suppose you're right. How about you swim in the water here?"

We turned to look at a dirty-looking lake nearby. Sora groaned, staring worriedly at the liquid. Even Donald and Goofy seemed skeptical of the idea. Gregorio and Yoris seemed hesitant as well. I on the other hand was outright grossed out.

"Seriously?", I asked. "Let's just go over it." I pulled out my scooter, and pushed its buttons for it to widen its platform and turn into his hoverboard mode. We all hopped on as I directed us over the liquid.

"How do we even know that's water?", Donald asked.

"What do you mean?", Jiminy asked. "What else would it be?"

"Oh, I don't know.", Sora muttered. "Something like... stomach acid?"

"Or some other digestive fluid stuff that could somehow hurt us.", Yoris suggested.

Jiminy laughed. "Of course not! This is only Monstro's mouth! There couldn't possibly be any stomach acid in his mouth."

"Well, I'm not getting any of us wet anyways.", I said as we crossed the liquid, following where Pinocchio presumably went. Jiminy jumped into Sora's hood and secured himself within the folds of cloth.

"Oh wait. I also found these after I took down Bing." Gregorio took out two scrolls, one red and one blue. They were a little bigger than the scrolls he was given before, but still relatively small. Sora took it, and they disapeared like usual, although he did seem to feel hot and cold at the same time.

Donald widened his eyebrows in realization. "Hey. I feel like my Fire and Blizzard spells are stronger."

"You're welcome, Sora, Donald."

KHKHKHKHKH

Pinocchio had carried the Gummi block all the way to the shipwreck. I didn't notice it before, but I could see a warm light emanating from the deck of the ship. I got us closer, getting curious. It wasn't long before I could hear voices.

"What have you got there, Pinocchio?"

"With this, we can get out of here, Father."

We disembarked at a pile of wooden planks next to the shipwreck. After putting away the scooter, we carefully walked over the strips of wood until we were high enough to reach the deck. We grabbed onto the edges and strained to see who was there. There were two figures on deck, one of whom was Pinocchio, laying the Gummi block down on the floor.

The other was a tall, kindly old man with puffy white hair and a moustache. He wore a long-sleeved light blue button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a black vest over it. The man wore a pair of dark trousers with high socks and brown buckle shoes. He adjusted the small pair of spectacles on the tip of his nose as he stared at what Pinocchio presented to him.

"Really?", he asked the puppet in surprise. "With this Gummi block? You think so?"

"It's true.", Sora called. Both Pinocchio and the old man turned at the sound of his voice. The Key Bearer smiled at us as we pulled ourselves up on deck, Donald and Goofy following closely. Running his hands through his hair, Sora took a few steps forward, turning to the boy puppet. "So, how did you end up here, Pinocchio?"

The old man moved closer, gasping in surprise. "Oh, my! So the whale swallowed all of you, too?" He could hardly help but chuckle nervously. "My goodness!"

Sora laughed. "Yeah, looks like it."

The man then cleared his throat. "My name is Geppetto.", he said with a warm smile. "I'm Pinocchio's father."

Pinocchio smiled sheepishly, putting his feet together and hiding his hands behind his back. Everyone's eyes grew slightly wider, although I didn't seem to react much. After all, it's possible that Geppetto adopted Pinocchio, or even created him and thus his statement would technically make sense.

"When we got separated, I traveled all over, looking for him.", he went on. "Thank goodness we're together again."

Geppetto picked up the Gummi block that Pinocchio had brought him and carried it over to a small bed, sheltered by the remaining rooftop of the boat. There was a small fishbowl on top of a drawer, with a tiny stone castle and a delicate-looking goldfish inside. Curled up on the bed was a small black-and-white kitten, fast asleep.

"Hold on a second.", Yoris asked. "How did you even end up inside Monstro? The whale is obviously traveling across worlds, so there is no way he could've swllowed up your vessel unless it was a Gummi Ship."

"Well, after I got separated from Pinocchio, I ended up in the company of a couple of good people.", Geppetto explained as he lay the block on the floor. "They seemed to be from all kinds of places and they took me in. When I asked where I was, I was told that I were rescued before my world fell into darkness. I asked if they knew where my son was, but they didn't know. They did manage to find Cleo and Figaro." He gestured to the goldfish anfd the kitten. "While I stayed with them, I became fascinated with Gummi Ships and when I decided to go look for my son, they loaned me one for me to use. After teaching me the basics, I was off, taking my pets with me."

"Okay.", I said. "What happened to your Gummi Ship? We certainly didn't see it when we were sucked in."

"Unfortunately, it was destroyed by Monstro when he swallowed it up. Luckily, those good fellows gave me something that kept me and my pets from going hungry." He gestured to what looked like a lunch box, which had a certain logo on it, although I didn't bother figuring out what it was. "You seem to know Pinocchio quite well. I hope he was a good boy in my absence."

At that comment, Donald and Goofy looked at one another, debating in silence.

"Well, when we first saw him, he was 'playing' hide-and-seek.", Gregorio said. "He also had a—" He was elbowed by Yoris, who shushed him. "A present given to him for making it to Traverse Town, although how he got **here** is beyond any of us."

Geppetto seated himself down on the edge of the bed, gently scratching the top of the kitten's head. "Well, we've all had quite a journey. Right, Pinocchio?"

We turned to look over at the puppet, only to find him missing. A panicked look came over Geppetto's face as his eyes darted in all directions. He jumped to his feet and ran forward.

"Pinocchio?"

Goofy blinked. "Where'd he go?"

We all joined the search, wandering the deck of the ship and looking for signs of the puppet. Donald grunted, his gaze sweeping from one end of the ship to the other.

"Wasn't he just here?", he muttered.

"Damn, he moves fast for a wooden puppet.", Yoris grumbled.

"I should've put a tracker on him.", Gregorio said.

Sora leaned over the railing, looking toward the dark tunnel in the monster whale's gut and squinted his eyes. He seemed to notice something.

"There he is!", Sora informed us. He cupped his hands around his mouth and drew in a deep breath. "Pinocchio!"

No response. We hurried toward Sora and looked to the tunnel. Donald leaned forward and asked, "Where?"

"Inside that tunnel thing."

"I don't see him."

"Well, he definitely went in there."

Geppetto wrung his hands worriedly. "I told him not to wander off…" He then sighed sadly. "He can be a naughty boy. Even so, he's very precious to me."

Sora looked at Geppetto sympathetically. Taking a deep breath, he jumped off the ship and landed on the springy floor. He took a few steps toward the tunnel before looking back up at Geppetto, a smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Geppetto.", he said with a nod. "We'll go get him."

Geppetto gasped in surprise. "You would do that? I'd hate to trouble you..."

Sora shook his head. "It's no trouble, Mr. Geppetto! Come on, you guys." As the Key Breared master walked off toward the tunnel, his we blinked in confusion. They looked at each other in mild surprise. Sora looked back up at us when he realized we hadn't followed him. "Guys!"

Goofy tumbled over the railing and fell to the floor with a loud howl. He lay there dazed for a moment. Sora sighed and hurried over to help Goofy up.

"You've really got watch where you step, Goofy.", he laughed.

"A-hyuck! Sorry!"

As soon as Goofy was back on his feet, he lost his footing on the slimy floor and slipped. He yelped in shock, grabbing onto Sora's shoulder for support. Goofy's heavier frame dragged Sora down as well, and they both fell to the floor. Sora's eyes grew wide in disgust at the slimy texture beneath his hands.

Having watched the entire scene safely from atop the ship, Donald laughed at their expense. "Those two would be in so much trouble without me around."

Sora folded his arms over his chest and grumbled while glaring up at the court wizard. Goofy just scratched his head in confusion. Only when Donald finished laughing did he jump down to join his friends.

"Well, we better go too.", I said. "We still have to find a way out of this whale."

Geppetto watched them warily as Gregoio, Yoris, and I joined Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they entered the tunnel. "Beware of the green monsters floating around.", he called out. "They'll try to drive you deeper into Monstro."

"Got it!", Sora called back, waving as we left.

KHKHKHKHKH

Goofy cupped both hands around his mouth. "**Pinoooocchioooo!**"

"Pinocchio, where are you?", Sora yelled.

He and I stared at our surroundings, sick to my stomach. I didn't know much about the insides of whales, but from what little I knew, they weren't meant to be like this. The walls were a teal color, speckled with bright multi-colored spots. They twitched and moved, pulsating in rhythm. We could could hear a heartbeat echoing from somewhere deep within the whale's body.

Jiminy tapped Sora's ear with his umbrella. "Enough staring, Sora."

"Oh, sorry."

I continued to look around. There were several other tunnels connected to the chamber we had entered, all spreading out in different directions. Our companions were inspecting a few of them, carefully peering into the deep shadows. Sora swallowed nervously, looking into a different tunnel.

He glanced back at his friends. "Hey... aren't you guys grossed out at all?"

Donald looked at Sora, one eyebrow raised. "Whaddaya mean?"

"I mean... we're inside the body of a giant whale. That doesn't crank up any disgusting points to you guys?"

Goofy blinked slowly. "Now that ya mention it... it is pretty gross, huh?"

"But it's not like we can help it, Sora.", Jiminy said matter-of-factly. "Monstro swallowed us. We can't just leave because the sight of whale insides makes us feel sick."

Sora gave up, letting out a breath. "You're right. I'll get over it."

"Well, what I'm surprised about is that Donald and Goofy look like they've been through things like this everyday.", I said.

"We've been through worse.", Donald answered.

Just then, as Sora was about to look into a different tunnel, he saw Pinocchio peering out at them from inside of one. Jiminy pulled himself up onto Sora's shoulder to see.

"Pinocchio!", he cried.

The young puppet smiled at us sheepishly. Sora sighed in relief. Pinocchio withdrew slightly as we all approached him. Noticing this, Sora came to a stop several feet away.

"What are you doing?", Sora asked him. "Come on, let's go back."

"You know, Geppetto's awfully worried about you.", Goofy said gently.

Pinocchio remained silent, pressing his hands into the fleshy walls. He lowered his gaze to the floor and inched slightly backward. "B-But I have to..."

"Pinocchio, stop fooling around!", Sora sternly said. "This is no time for games!"

"Yeah. Tell us what you're looking for, and we'll find it for you."

Donald and Jiminy nodded their heads in agreement. Pinocchio looked somewhat shocked and embarrassed, dropped his arms to his sides and hung his head.

"But, Sora! I thought you liked games.", a voice came.

We saw two familiar figures walk out of the tunnel Pinocchio was hiding in. They strode forward and came to a stop next to Pinocchio, arms folded proudly over their chests and a teasing look on their faces.

"Or are you too cool to play them now that you have the Keyblade?", the other person said.

I could hardly believe what was going on. "Riku? Windelle? Wh-What are you doing here?", Sora asked.

I half-expected them to explain how they ended up inside the body of a monstrous whale, or even a plan on how to escape, but Riku just gave us a casual shrug.

"Just playing with Pinocchio.", he said nonchalantly.

Riku smiled slightly in Sora's direction, an almost cruel gleam in his eyes. He and Windelle seemed to be…different. Sora seemed to shake his head vigorously in denial of something.

"You know what I mean!", Sora said firmly, taking a step forward. "What about Kairi? And Florina? Did you find them?"

"Maybe." Riku's smile darkened as he glanced at Pinocchio. "Catch us, and maybe we'll tell you what we know."

"Hold on a second, Riku.", Gregorio said. "Since when did you always want to play games and mess around?"

"Is there a problem with that?", Windelle asked darkly.

"Hello? We're inside a whale, for crying out loud! Even our usually goofy friend is taking things seriously!" He thumbed at Goofy, then turned to him. "No offense."

"None taken.", Goofy replied.

Sora let out an exasperated sigh and stomped one foot on the floor. "Come on!"

Still smiling, Riku took Pinocchio by the hand and led the puppet away, back through the tunnel he had entered. Windelle made a 'catch you later' gesture and followed. Jiminy leaned forward, his eyes growing wide. "Hey! Where are you taking Pinocchio?"

"Riku! Windelle!", Sora called after them, desperately confused. "Wait!" Sora clenched his hands into tight fists and immediately chased after them. The sudden movement pushed Jiminy backward, sliding from Sora's shoulder back into his black hood. Gregorio and Yoris swiftly followed, leaving me, Donald, and Goofy behind.

"Whoa!" Donald yelled as we set after them. "Sora, wait up!"

The Key bearer briefly glanced back over his shoulder. "Come on, guys!"

"Wait up!", I cried out.

"You heard Riku.", Sora said as he ran. "I've gotta catch him."

"Yeah, but look out for—"

Suddenly, Sora was struck in the side and went tumbling across the fleshy floor with a yell of shock and pain. He only stopped rolling when he hit the nearest wall in full force. Greogrio and Yoris were ahead of him, so they didn't get hit as they immediately fought whatever attacked Sora. Donald and Goofy came up as quickly as they could from behind as I joined in the fight. A Cure spell was ready on Donald's staff as they approached.

"Sora! Are you okay?", Donald asked.

The Key Bearer shook himself free of the shock. "Yeah, I'm fine. But what...?"

"We got Heartless on the loose!", I said.

We were currently fighting a Large Body, and two ghost-doll-like ones, with one yellow light bulb eye dangling out of the socket on a chain and dressed in purple suits and gloves. The insignia on their chests was altogether too familiar.

"Why are there Heartless here?", Sora shouted in shock.

"Shouldn't you be used to 'em by now?", Donald shouted back.

"They just pop up everywhere we go.", Goofy sighed. "Gawrsh, maybe they're stalkin' us!"

"Search Ghost. ", the Diary said as we fought. "Heartless that mostly appear in Atlantica. They roam in dark areas and emit light from their eye to target their enemies. They can warp from one place to another."

"Wait!", I said as I shot down one of said Search Ghosts. "What is this Atlantica? Is it a world? I could swear I've heard that somewhere before!"

Sora came up from beside me as he looked about frantically. There were two paths to choose from in this chamber.

"Which one had they gone through?", I wondered as he took out his Keyblade.

"This doesn't make any sense.", Sora insisted. "We're inside a giant whale! There's no Keyhole here for the Heartless to target."

"How do ya know?" Gregorio asked, skewering a Search Ghost with the edge of his shield.

Sora jumped back slightly, dodging the Heartless' swinging arm. "Well, Aerith and Leon said that the Heartless enter the Keyhole and do something to the world's core."

"You know, Irvine told us the same thing.", Yoris said as he shot down the Large Body.

"But why would there be a Keyhole inside of a whale...?"

Donald cast Thunder on the Search Ghosts that appeared sometime during the battle. These Heartless disappeared into a ring of bright light, only to appear again in a different spot. Donald prepared another Thunder spell, stepping back so that he would see where the Heartless would reappear.

"You might be right, Sora.", Donald said. "So what do we do?"

"I think they might be after Monstro's heart.", I suggested. "After all, a whale is a living being, right?"

With one last, powerful slash, Sora finally defeated the Large Body, then looked around again, checking for any more Heartless that may have appeared.

"We've gotta catch up to Riku and Windelle.", he answered.

Donald quacked loudly and his jaw dropped as he cast Gravity on a Search Ghost he was fighting.

"We what?"

Sora cast a Thunder spell on a Green Requiem in the area. The tiny Heartless shook its body vigorously, sparkly green lights raining out of its body, and then floated away through the tunnel. Sora followed it, determined not to let it escape. Gregorio and Yoris swiftly followed. Donald was still staring at Sora, frozen in place although he had defeated the Heartless.

"That wasn't the answer I was expecting!", he quacked. "You're not thinkin' straight! What happened to the hero you were at Agrabah? What happened to that wonderful feeling of respect I had for you? **Sora! Come back here!**" But they were already gone.

"I don't get it.", Goofy said, scratching his head. "What does talking to Riku and Windelle have to do with all the Heartless inside Monstro's body?"

"That's what I wanna know!", Donald screamed in frustration. He then stomped his feet on the floor and took a deep breath. "Let's go, Goofy. We at least can't let him get too far."

He took another deep breath and then took off after Sora. Goofy blinked.

"Gawrsh, Donald!", he laughed as he and I followed. "Yer gettin' real good at controllin' your temper!"

The duck growled. "Why, I oughta... I'll show you controllin' my temper..."

"We last saw Riku and Windelle in Traverse Town.", I said. "Something seems to be wrong. Maybe the Heartless have gotten to them."

We all tore through the floods of Heartless that awaited us in every chamber, weapons flashing. Be they Large Body, Search Ghost, Shadow, Air Soldier, Yellow Opera, or Green Requiem, it didn't matter. In a fit of rage, Donald used his magic on anything that came near him, just in case it was an enemy. The rest of us kept our distance from the duck so as not to get caught in his flurry of fierce attacks. Gregorio swatted enemies aside while Yoris shot down crowds of them with his cannon. Goofy charged shield-first into the Heartless while Sora sliced his way through, searching for signs of Riku, Windelle and Pinocchio all the while. I steadied my pace, shooting down any Heartless not covered by anyone else.

I was starting to lose track of our location. Every chamber looked exactly the same, and I just knew we were moving in circles. There were Heartless everywhere, particularly the Green Requiems. They seemed to be leading us from chamber to chamber, in a complex circle of some kind. Hadn't Geppetto warned us about these? Just as I was thinking of giving up, I managed to catch a glimpse of red trousers and a yellow hat on a lower platform. I turned to see if it was who I thought it was. Indeed, it was. Sora noticed too.

"Pinocchio!", I gasped.

Jiminy poked his head out of Sora's hood. "Pinocchio? Where?"

The wooden boy turned and looked up at the sound of his name. When he realized it had come from me, his eyes widened. Jiminy looked offended.

"Pinocch! Come back here! It's dangerous running around inside a whale!"

"Come on!", Sora yelled. "Geppetto's waiting for—"

"But they promised me!" Pinocchio insisted, turning to run away. "They promised they would help us get home! They said they knew a way out!" He then dashed into another tunnel and was gone. For a moment, Sora could only stare after him.

_What were those two doing?_, I thought. _Oh wait…I have to tell Sora what I saw!_

"Guys! We've gotta follow Pinocchio!", Sora called out to his friends, who were still fighting the Heartless. The four looked over at Sora, Donald and Goofy somewhat exasperated as they each knocked away another Heartless. "Hang on tight, Jiminy."

The small cricket ducked back into Sora's hood as he leapt down to the lower level. He looked back over his shoulder once to make sure that his friends were still with him, and then continued to chase after the young puppet. I was already right behind him, having forgotten wheat I was about to tell him. Suddenly, I received another vision.

Part II. Ding and the Parasite Cage

'I' was in a different chamber of Monstro. I was seriously getting irritated by how anatomically wrong the whale was. 'I' saw Riku and Windelle stride one way, entering the chamber 'I' was in. They slowed in their step, listening carefully for Pinocchio, who was supposed to be following them. They couldn't hear it. Instead, they heard something else.

"Why do you still care about that boy?", a familiar female voice came.

They stopped walking and turned around to face Maleficent, Xin, and somebody else in the same clothes as him, although he looked more laid back. They approached him slowly, taking long, even strides. Maleficent looked at the two with a wicked, secretive smile, returning the grave gaze they set on her.

"He has all but deserted you for the Keyblade and his new companions, after all.", Xin emphasized.

Riku lowered his gaze to the floor. He pressed his lips together in a stern line and quickly turned away.

"I don't care about him.", he told them gruffly. "I-I was just messin' with him a little."

"Oh, really? Of course you were.", the other guy said teasingly.

"Now's not the time to be funny, Ding.", Xin told his companion sternly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Riku just snorted in annoyance, his eyes shut tight. Their three 'companions' resumed walking. Xin and Maleficent kept their gaze on him and Windelle as they walked past them.

"Beware the darkness in your heart.", the sorceress warned them through her secretive smile. "The Heartless prey upon it."

Xin raised one hand slightly in the air in front of him and pushed something invisible aside. A dark, whirling vortex appeared before them, a deep purple glow coming from somewhere deep within it. This was one of the portals they used to disappear into. Maleficent cast one final glance at Riku and stepped into the portal. Riku glared at them, clenching his hands.

"Mind your own business.", he growled.

With that, Maleficent and Xin disappeared without a trace, leaving Ding with the two. Riku narrowed his eyes, his gaze still set firmly on where they vanished. Windelle remained expressionless all the while.

"I'll just get 'it' ready.", Ding said as he walked down a tunnel.

Only then did they hear the sound of creaking wooden joints. They turned to see Pinocchio, the expression on his face a mix of fear and worry. The puppet stumbled by as quickly as he could. Following close behind were the rest of us weapons in hand. As usual, as soon as 'I' saw myself, my perspective shifted back. Sora slid to a halt and looked at his friends in shock.

"Riku!", he cried out.

"Windelle!", Yoris and Gregorio cried out.

Neither of the silver-haired boys answered them. Riku merely stared at the fancy-looking Keyblade in Sora's hand. Windelle turned to Pinocchio and watched as the puppet hurried past him, passing through a different tunnel, the one 'I' saw Ding enter.

"What's the matter with you?", Sora demanded. "What are you thinking? Don't you realize what you're doing?"

Riku narrowed his eyes. "I was about to ask you the same thing, Sora." he said coldly. "You only seem interested in running around and showing off that Keyblade these days." Windelle also said that last sentence in sync with Riku, but replaced 'Keyblade' with Gun of Light, obviously talking to me, even though I didn't start.

"I didn't even ask for this!", I replied. "I'm no showoff!"

"Do you even want to save Kairi?", Riku asked, ignoring me.

Sora seemed painfully hurt from his words as he hung his head sadly, his voice barely audible.

"I... I do...", he said.

Just then, Pinocchio's voice rang out in a plaintive shout. We all looked toward where he vanished in panic. Riku and Windelle gritted their teeth in annoyance, turned sharply on their heels and quickly went to find the puppet. Donald, Goofy, Gregorio, Yoris, and I stepped forward to follow, but stopped when we realized Sora hadn't moved. His blue eyes were once again lowered to the floor, still in a state of shock.

"C'mon, Sora!", Goofy urged. "We gotta save Pinocchio!"

He looked back up at us, disoriented for a moment. Then, pulling himself together, Sora nodded his head and we chased after our friends As soon as we came out on the other side, we joined them in staring at our surroundings in a mix of surprise and nausea. We had entered a large, circular chamber with pulsating walls. We could see fluids oozing out of several large pores scattered about. In the middle of the room was a very strange and almost disgusting-looking creature.

It was as if one of Monstro's organs came to life. It was still rooted in place, but two long valves that must've connected somewhere had been removed and now served as large, hammer-like arms. I couldn't tell which part was the head, as it seemed to have a pair of yellow eyes on each bulbous body part. Its gut was hollow, looking more like a cross between a mouth and a cage. Pinocchio was behind its cage-teeth, trapped inside and looking drained of energy and in pain. Just above the cage was the Heartless emblem. And on top of the Heartless was a man in green clothes and a halberd.

Donald leapt into the air, quacking incoherently and flailing his arms in a wild rage. "Why are there so many Heartless in here?"

"Help!", Pinocchio shouted sadly. "I'm scared!"

"Hang in there, Pinocchio!", Goofy called encouragingly. "We'll save ya!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean any harm! I just wanted to help Father!"

"Don't worry!", Yoris said. "Everything's gonna be okay!"

"Well, well, well, what have we here.", the man said. "Looks like the Key Bearer's in town. And I, Ding, will be the one to take you down."

Windelle turned to look sternly at us, ignoring Ding's banter. "You up for this?"

We all got into fighting stances, our weapons drawn. "No problem.", Sora answered. "Let's do it!"

With a soft grunt, Windelle looked away from Sora and at the Heartless. Riku pulled out his red and black sword and prepared to fight. Windelle summoned his GunDeLuna. Riku made the first move. He dashed forward, jumping down from the elevated platform and making a vicious charge at the parasite. He sliced into the monster's flesh, his sword brimming with a mysterious energy. The Heartless roared in pain and then swung one of its heavy, mallet-like arms, knocking Riku away.

"Riku!", Sora shouted in concern.

The silver-haired boy shook his head, picking himself up and quickly recovering from the hit. "I'm fine!" he assured Sora before leaping back into the fray. "You worry about yourself."

As Windelle shot away with his GunDeLuna, Sora clenched his teeth and charged forward as well, Donald, Goofy, and Gregorio on either side of him. He slashed downward with the Keyblade, only to get knocked into the air. He hit a distant wall and dropped to the floor. Goofy howled in concern, holding up his shield. He made to move to Sora's side when the Heartless swung its arms again, this time hitting Donald and Goofy and sending them flying. They hit the same wall as Sora and slid down so that they were next to him. Gregorio had dodged that tentacle with a forward flip, then leaped right foe where Ding was, who was defending against fireballs from Yoris with Ice magic. All the while, I made potshots at the head of what the Diary identified as the Parasite Cage.

"Don't knock out on me, guys!", Sora wailed, using Cure to revive them.

Meanwhile, Riku was dancing all around the monster, slashing his sword and damaging the monster greatly. He glanced back at Sora and his friends with a smirk.

"What's wrong?", he called mockingly. "Can't you or your little sidekicks keep up?"

The Key bearer spun around, a frustrated look on his face. "We can, too!"

"And we're not his sidekicks!", Donald shouted as he raised a fist into the air. "We're his friends!"

Riku seemed to flinch, then he suddenly released a bitter laugh. "Oh really? Then prove it."

Narrowing his blue eyes, Sora got to his feet and gripped the Keyblade even tighter in his hands. Donald and Goofy looked up at him in weary surprise.

"C'mon guys.", he said. "Let's go."

The wizard rolled his eyes as Sora looked over at his friends, both of whom gave him a thumbs up, and then charged at the Heartless monster. Gregorio managed to make it on top of the Parasite Cage and locked his weapon with Ding. Yoris and I switched our targets to the Heartless' cage mouth, trying to get it to open. Of course, we took care not to hit Pinocchio, who huddled at the back. Windelle just kept shooting at the Parasite Cage at random spots, seemingly not caring for friendly fire, although he seemed to never end up hitting Riku.

The poor puppet watched the battle rage desperately from within his fleshy prison, wailing helplessly. Donald was bombarding the monster with a flurry of Thunder and Gravity spells. Goofy just charged at the monster shield first, occasionally getting thrown back by another of the parasite's mighty swings. Yoris and I were trying to set him free by shooting at the mouth. He couldn't see Gregorio, although he knew he was fighting too. Sora and Riku, however, were putting on quite an interesting show.

Their attacks were fiercely competitive, but were strangely in sync. When one fighter was left wide open after an attack, the other covered for him. Their slashes came one after the other, alternating between Sora and Riku, creating a perfect combination. But at the same time, they were both determined to hurt the monster more than the other could, and the ferocity of their movements escalated throughout the battle.

Donald and Goofy were stunned by the display and would stop attacking every so often to watch. The court wizard let out a low, impressed whistle.

"They're really fighting out there.", he said.

"Yeah," Goofy agreed with a nod. "And not just with the monster, but with each other!"

"Like best buds, and rivals.", I added. "But I can't help but think that Riku's…darker than before."

With renewed strength and energy, resumed our onslaught. While Ding seemed to have disappeared from our view and so did Gregorio, the Parasite Cage howled in rage and fiercely swung its arms down on Sora and Riku. Both boys blocked the attack with their weapons, but Sora was overpowered and the Key bearer dropped to one knee on the ground. Riku, on the other hand, parried the attack and pushed the monster's arm to the side. Then, in one swift movement, Riku leapt high into the air and ran the tip of his sword into the monster's flesh.

Sora could only watch as Riku dug his blade deeper into the Parasite Cage's body, making it howl again. Then suddenly, the sword seemed to be surrounded by a dark energy that was quickly injected into the monster. With that, the Heartless sagged to the ground in exhustion. Riku pulled out his blade and leapt away. Sora blinked in shock, not sure of what he had seen.

"Man.", Riku chuckled, shaking his head. "Where would you be without me?"

"Is it... over?", Sora ventured softly.

"I hope so," Donald muttered, his shoulders drooping in exhaustion. He pulled out an Ether and took a sip. "That was exhausting!"

Just then, Gregorio seemed to be sent flying right above the Parasite Cage and right at our feet, encased in a ball of ice. I felt horrified, knowing the consequences. Donald cast Fire and the lancer was freed.

"Shoot!", he said as he got up. "He got away!"

"How did you survive that?", I asked.

"I was encased quickly, not slowly. And I was freed in a few seconds."

"The cage's still got Pinocchio.", Windelle reminded us.

The little wooden puppet looked worriedly at the others. "Get me outta here!"

"Hold on!", Sora called as he jumped to his feet and dashed forward, reaching out to grab the organic bars of Pinocchio's prison. "We'll get you out in no time."

He grunted with the effort as he tried to pry them open and let Pinocchio out. Riku looked as though he were going to help, but before he could even take a step forward, Donald beat him to it, dashing toward Sora and the Parasite Cage. But as soon as the duck came within reach, the Heartless stirred. Sora didn't notice, and was still busy trying to save Pinocchio. The court wizard's eyes widened.

"Sora! Look out!"

"Huh?"

Donald grabbed Sora and pulled him away from the Heartless. They tumbled to the ground as the creature moved backward and used its long arms to latch onto the ceiling of the chamber, pulling itself up off the ground. The floor where it had been standing suddenly opened and the Heartless swung forward, its cage-like mouth opening and throwing Pinocchio into the newly created hole.

"**Pinocchio!**" Sora cried out.

Riku immediately darted forward, jumping after the puppet into the hole. Windelle swiftly followed without a word. Sora quickly got to his feet and hurried after them. Donald stared at the hole in shock for a brief moment before turning to Goofy, who seemed to be cheering happily for no apparent reason. The duck groaned and rolled his eyes as he grabbed hold of his friend and followed the boys into the hole. Grregorio and Yoris had jumped in already while Donald looked at Goofy. I was left behind.

"Oh, screw it!", I said as I went after my companions.

KHKHKHKHKH

I tumbled out of the tunnel, rolling across the wet, fleshy floor and into Sora, Donald, Goofy, Yoris, and Gregorio in a tangled mess of limbs. We pulled away from one another quickly and looked around, confused and disoriented.

"Now how did we get back to Monstro's mouth?", I said. "This is an anatomical impossibility."

The whale had apparently expelled some of the excess water in his mouth as almost all of it was suddenly gone. Although that begged the question on how that was possible as Monstro was in outer space. In any case, it was now possible to wade from one side to the other.

"Pinocchio! Pinocchio!", we heard Geppetto say.

We all turned to look up at the broken ship, where he had walked out near the end of the plank and was looking up toward the top of one of the woodpiles. There was a desperate, pleading look on his face.

"Please!", he begged sadly. "Give me back my son!"

The we followed Geppetto's gaze and saw Riku with an unconscious Pinocchio casually tucked under one arm. Windelle was right next to him and I thought I saw Ding somewhere in the shadows behind. They two silver-haired boys looked back at Geppetto with an apathetic, expressionless face.

"Sorry, old man.", Riku said coldly. "We have some unfinished business with this puppet."

Geppetto looked horrified at the words. "He's no puppet! He's my little boy!"

We rose to our feet and approached the scene, eyes wide in shock. I can tell that they have changed. And not in a good way. Sora, Gregorio, and Yoris seemed to notice it too. Riku snorted softly, adjusting his hold on Pinocchio.

"He is unusual.", Windelle said. "Not many puppets have hearts." He glanced meaningfully at their captive. "I'm not sure, but... maybe he can help someone who's lost theirs."

"Wait a minute.", Sora gasped. "Are you talking about Kairi?"

"Hold on.", I said. "Did something happen to Florina?"

A pair of icy, emerald-colored eyes turned on Sora and glared daggers at him. A pair of scary amber-colored eyes made contact with my ordinary brown ones and I felt frightened.

"What do you care about her?", they spoke, their voices sharp and cold. I was momentarily stunned.

"Of course we care about them!", Yoris spoke up for us. "They're our friends! You know that more than anything, Windelle!"

Said friend said nothing as he and Riku leapt down from their position atop the wooden pile, darting into another tunnel revealed by the lowered water.

"Riku, wait!", Sora shouted, somewhat panicked.

As he rushed forward to follow him, the Key Bearer tripped and fell clumsily to the lower level. Donald and Goofy jumped forward, their eyes wide with concern.

"Sora!"

"Sora! Are you okay?"

For a moment, Sora just let himself lie in the shallow water. Gregorio and Yoris just stood there unmoving.

"What's happened to you?", Gregorio said. "You were never this cold, Windelle."

As I walked over to where Sora was, he slowly pulled himself up out of the water so that he was on his knees, ruffling his hair to get the water out. He then glanced back to his friends and hesitantly showed them a faint, lopsided grin. As the dog and duck let out a relieved breath, Sora cast his eyes down into the water, his grin faded and one hand clenched. He threw a frustrated punch at the water.

Just as he began to withdraw his hands, Sora's fingers brushed against something in the water. He then seemed to pick up a gleaming blue stone from the water. Meanwhile, as I put my hands in my pockets, I felt something that wasn't there before. Having stored my water bottle in my bag, I took out a spherical grey orb. I knew it wasn't metallic as I was able to see through it. There seemed to be something inside it, but I couldn't identify it from the dim lighting of the place.

"A... summon gem...?", we muttered at about the same time.

"Hey, Sora!", Donald cried out.

Sora put the stone away and turned around to see Donald and Goofy standing near the entrance to the tunnel Riku and Windelle entered.

"C'mon!", Goofy urged. "We gotta go catch them!"

Sora blinked. "H-Huh?"

"He is your bestest buddy after all, right?"

For a moment, Sora was completely stricken by Goofy's words. He could only manage to nod his head dumbly, staring at Donald and Goofy in amazement. "Guys... I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I mean..."

"Gawrsh, Sora.", Goofy grinned, helping Sora up. "You don't hafta apologize for that. We'll stick with ya through thick an' thin! That's what friends are for, after all!"

"All for one and one for all, remember?", quacked Donald. "So let's get going!"

"…Thanks, guys.", said Sora.

"Remember, Riku and Windelle are our friends just as much as they are yours.", Yoris said as he and Gregorio joined Sora.

"I still need to find a way back to where I came from, and my chances are best in your company as I'm no good on my own.", I said as I put away the summon gem. "I may not know you guys much, but I can't risk losing the few friends I now have."

His resolve regained, he smiled with a determined face. We then made our way along the tunnel, trailing after Riku and Windelle and hoping we would catch them in time. Several Search Ghosts and barrel-like Heartless appeared every so often, only to be blasted by a Blizzara spell, a fireball, struck with a shield, skewered with a javelin, shot down by a Charge Shot, or slashed by the Keyblade. We didn't have time to stop, I thought as I rode on my scooter, deciding to save my energy for what I felt might be a fight ahead of us.

"Barrel Spider.", the Diary said. "Gunpowder barrel turned Heartless. They charge into their enemies and explode. Any physical impact or fire will set them off."

I ignored the Diary as we continued on. However, the enemy seemed to be too numerous.

"Darn it!", I said. "About time **I** called for backup." I raised the bracer that held the red Power Orb and cried out. "Lend us your power!"

The red Power Orb glowed in my bracer and a force exploded outward, knocking down everyone in the area a little. Beams of light shot out of the floor around my feet and quickly spiraled upward, swallowing me in a spiral of blue light, just like when Sora summoned Simba. When the light faded, a grey bear had appeared right in front of me. Baloo was in the scene.

"What's up, fellas?", he said.

"We need your help to get through those guys!", I said as I pointed at the Search Ghosts and Barrel Spiders, which were now accompanied with Large Bodies, Air Soldiers, Shadows, and Green Requiems.

"Can do.", Baloo readied his claws. "They're gonna pay for what they did to my world." When the bear charged, so did we. As we continued fighting the Heartless, I couldn't help but be amazed by Baloo's power, or that of any bear for that matter. He swatted the Air Soldiers to the walls like they were merely nuisances and they were eliminated upon impact. All those Large Bodies we had problems with, he was able to take them down in two slashes. And he was able to attack them at the front, which we weren't able to do.

Just as we saw the end of the 'tunnel', Baloo seemed to sparkle in places. We all paused as the sparkling seemed to increase.

"What's happening?", Goofy asked.

"Looks like my times up.", Baloo answered with a slight smile on his face. "Catch you later." The bear then disappeared in a flash of light.

"Wow.", I managed to say, somehow tired. "Summoning seems to take a lot of energy.", I said.

"Here." Donald offered an Ether, which I took. After emptying it, I felt my energy return.

"Thanks, Donald."

"Let's hurry!", Sora reminded as he ran on to the tunnel's end. We quickly followed him.

Part III. Betrayal

Finally, we made it to the other side and entered a large, dome-like room. The floor was separated from the walls, allowing a small, narrow space to walk. Between the walls and floor was a gutter, filled with a bubbling, green fluid. In many spots on the wall were fleshy platforms, sticking out to the center of the room. On the far end of the area on one of them was Pinocchio, sitting slumped on the floor with a glazed look on his face. Riku and Windelle stood over him, staring at him.

Upon seeing them there, Sora balled his hands into his fists and stepped forward. "Hey, let Pinocchio go, Riku."

They turned around at the sound of Sora's voice. Jiminy carefully emerged from Sora's hood and looked helplessly at the wooden boy.

"Oh, Pinocchio..."

"A puppet that's lost its heart to the Heartless... Maybe it holds the key to helping Kairi.", Riku murmured. He then turned back to Sora, and he and Windelle stretched out one hand, meaning for us to take it.

"How about it, guys?", Windelle said. "Let's join forces to save her. We can do it, together."

We just stared at him, hardly able to believe what he was being asked.

"Something's wrong with Windelle.", Yoris muttered. "He'd never sacrifice anybody to help another, no matter the cost."

"Huh?", I asked.

"I'm afraid something's happened to them. They didn't even mention Florina. Something **must** have happened to Kairi."

I then saw Sora take a deep breath, pulling out the Keyblade and preparing to fight. I then saw Gregorio and Yoris take out their weapons. At once, Riku and Windelle stopped dead in their tracks, taken aback. Their eyes widened in surprise.

"What? You'd rather fight us?", Riku asked. "Over a puppet that has no heart?"

"Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience.", Sora retorted as he narrowed his eyes.

The look on their faces washed away as they raised an eyebrow. "Conscience?", Riku echoed.

Jiminy leapt out of Sora's hood to the floor and ran toward the puppet, his arms outstretched as though he meant to embrace the boy. Pinocchio slowly rolled his eyes to look at the cricket as he approached, seemingly too weak to do anything else.

"You might not hear it, but right now it's loud and clear.", Sora went on, gripping the Keyblade even tighter.

"And it's telling us you're on the wrong side!", Gregorio and Yoris finished simultaneously, to Sora's surprise.

There was a pause as they looked at each other, analyzing one another carefully. After a moment, Riku and Windelle looked at Donald, Goofy, and me and narrowed their eyes in anger.

"Then you leave us with no choice.", Riku said darkly.

During the face-off, Jiminy finally reached Pinocchio's side, crying his name in fear. The puppet just looked at him through half-shut eyelids and drew in a deep breath. Jiminy released a plaintive wail over his poor condition.

"Pinocchio! Pinocchio!"

"Jiminy.", he moaned. "I'm not gonna make it."

Suddenly, there was a flash of light. Pinocchio's wooden nose gained a few inches in length. Pinocchio also stared at his longer nose in surprise for a moment, not knowing what he had lied about, and then smiled.

"Oh!", he exclaimed cheerily. "I guess I'm okay!"

Jiminy seemed to hop up and down in joy. For some reason, a lie had saved the puppet's life.

Riku turned slightly to watch the scene with wide eyes, confused and disgruntled. "But... H-His heart... He should have..."

Sora was confused by the shocked tone in Riku's voice. He was about to speak when the doubt suddenly washed out and he and Windelle looked sharply at us, seemingly angry and their fists clenched. Donald, Goofy, and I immediately fell into a fighting stance.

"We can do this, Sora!", Donald encouraged him.

The Key Bearer drew in a breath, his gaze fixated on his 'friends'' faces. "Yeah. Let's do this."

"You don't know the power of the dark side.", a voice suddenly came.

Suddenly, the Parasite Cage from before dropped in, blocking Riku and Windelle from view. The thud made the room shake slightly, some of the bubbly green fluid sloshing up near Goofy's feet. The dog howled in horror when he heard the stuff sizzle.

"That stuff is acid!", he shouted.

Donald looked at his friend incredulously. "Acid? Then that means we're in Monstro's stomach!"

Sora made a face. "Oh, perfect."

"Oh, I just love it when a plan comes together.", the same voice said. We looked around, and then noticed Ding on top of the Parasite Cage's head. His halberd was aimed at us. "You're gonna become Heartless in no time."

"Pinocchio! Jiminy!", Yoris called. "Run for it!"

On the other side of the room, Pinocchio got to his feet, scooped up Jiminy, and ran for the exit. Sora smiled weakly at them as they passed, tightening his hold on the Keyblade.

"Just leave this to us.", Gregorio said.

The Heartless released a deafening cry as the puppet and his conscience escaped. As the Parasite Cage opened its mouth, Ding jumped off and went inside it. As its mouth closed around Ding, who didn't seem to be panicked, the Heartless slammed its arms into the floor and lifted its body off the ground. It then propelled itself forth and swung violently into us, knocking us into the wall. We all groaned as we slid back down to the floor, Donald quacking loudly when his tail feathers almost touched the stomach acid that lined the room. He scrambled back to safety, breathing hard. Then, Donald cast several stronger Fire spells in rapid succession, aimed straight at the monster's head. As it turned out, he was casting Fira.

Goofy swallowed hard as the rest of us got back to our feet. Sora, Gregorio, and Goofy looked at one another, and then charged straight at the Heartless. Yoris kept his distance and shot fireballs at the Parasite Cage, which were countered by Blizzard spells from Ding, who shot in the safety of th Heartless's mouth.

The Parasite Cage swung its arms around, striking Donald once again and throwing him back. This only made the mage angrier and he started rapidly firing Blizzara and Thunder in a fit of rage.

However, none of this seemed to be affecting the Heartless at all. If anything, we were only annoying the monster with our attacks. Sora pulled himself up onto a higher platform to avoid getting hit by another of the Parasite Cage's lunges. He then rose to his feet and stepped away from the edge, breathing hard.

"Man, this thing's tough!", he groaned. "Riku'd probably be able to—" His eyes widened as he then frantically searched the area. The silver-haired boys were nowhere to be found, as though they had vanished into thin air.

"Riku?", Sora yelled, still searching. "Riku!"

"Sora!", Goofy cried out. "Look out!"

The Key Bearer spun around to look back at the knight when a thick, murky green cloud of gas engulfed him. He instantly dropped to his knees, and put a hand over his mouth and nose, coughing heavily. I immediately came to his assistance, jumping onto the platform where Sora was. I cast Esuna on him, and he was instantly revitalized.

"Thanks, Rael.", Sora told me.

"You're welcome, Sora.", I replied. "Thank goodness for Esuna."

Donald suddenly threw himself at the Heartless, leaping up onto the monster's head and pounding on it in a fury. The Heartless leaned back with the weight, the cage suddenly opening wide, exposing Ding. Gregorio charged, only for the samurai to jump out and attack him and Goofy. Yoris noticed a dark orb left inside the Parasite Cage. As Goofy and Gregorio held off Ding, Yoris shot fireballs at the orb.

"A weak spot!", the cannoneer hurrahed as he attacked. "The orb in the Parasite Cage."

Sora got to his feet. "H-Huh?" I took out a Potion and handed it to him. As he drank it, I looked at his Keyblade, then the lamp keychain. I then remembered Genie's words, held the lamp keychain, and started to rub it. Sora seemed to notice as he tried to pull his Keyblade off my hands.

"What are you doing?", he asked me.

"Genie, I wish for your assistance.", I invoked.

Suddenly, a ring of light rippled out from under our feet and stars flew up from the ground around us. A sudden surge of power lifted Sora to his feet and he raised the Keyblade slightly. He then turned it like he was unlocking something and the tip began to shine with a bright pink light. Sora pulled the Keyblade back and tossed it into the air, spinning around and glowing brilliantly. He caught it as it came back down to the ground, and the weapon started to go out of control. Sora gripped the handle with both hands as the Keyblade shook violently. Flashy pink and white sparks and smoke were shot out of it, making loud popping sounds.

I helped Sora hold on to the Keyblade, which threatened to fly out of Sora's hands. Blue smoke rushed out of the tip, rising into a spiral and growing higher and thicker. A figure started to form within the smoke, yelling loudly and stretching his limbs. As the blue smoke thinned out, the figure was revealed to be Genie, spinning around with a big grin on his face. He moved toward us with an extended hand, and I gave him a high-five.

"That will give you such a crick in the neck!", Genie said with a laugh. He then looked around, making a face as he realized he was in a giant stomach. "Yech... Here's something that doesn't happen to you everyday. So whaddaya need me for?"

"We need your help fighting that thing.", Sora said as he pointed at the Parasite Cage, which our allies were valiantly fighting against.

"And that guy.", I pointed at Ding, who was spamming Blizzard spells and pushing our comrades to the acid. Luckily, it didn't seem to be as corrosive as I expected. And shallow too.

Genie screwed his face up into a serious expression, then rolled up a pair of imaginary sleeves and cracked his knuckles, the tips of his fingers suddenly sparkling with pink light.

"Leave it to me, guys!", he said with a wink.

"Guys!", I called to our companions. "Outta the way!"

The king's men and Sora's island friends looked up at my call and, seeing Genie suddenly dressed as a superhero, jumped away from the Parasite Cage. Genie threw his chest out proudly before unleashing a flurry of every magic spell that he knew on the Heartless and Ding. They were suddenly bombarded with fireballs, streams of lightning, beams of ice, and gravitational fields, gales of wind, and what-have-you. It even seemed like it was being rapidly transformed into various objects in the midst of Genie's attacks.

As we all watched, I saw Ding manage to sneak out of Genie's onslaught. However, a copy of Genie stood in his way, dressed up as an Americal football player.

"Now where do you think you're going?", he said.

"Genies can't kill, remember?", Ding said as he aimed his halberd. He was grabbed by Genie and was constricted as the blue djinn hugged him.

"Maybe not, but you'll surprised with what you can live through." Genie then turned into a catapult, Ding loaded, and then launched him into the air. The samurai landed with a thud on a platform close to our friends' location. Gregorio took the chance to attack and so did Donald. Meanwhile, Goofy and Yoris were busy marveling at Genie's performance on Parasite Cage.

As the djinn reared his arms back for one final blast, Sora dashed forward and I reared by arm to toss my shield for a Shield Boomer attack. Then, with the Keyblade raised high over his head, Sora leapt at the Heartless, flipping in mid-air to give him greater lift.

"This may leave a mark!" Genie told the Heartless mockingly. He fired a powerful beam of light at it, engulfing it in a blinding white light. It was so bright that Genie conjured up a pair of sunglasses for everyone, allowing everyone to see the moment when Sora sliced the Keyblade into the Parasite Cage's body, which was followed with my thrown shield, which swifty returned to my hand afterward.

Only then did the bright light dissipate (and the sunglasses disappear). Sora jumped away from the Heartless, landing with his feet wide, and one hand on the floor, the other outstretched opposite him, holding the Keyblade high. Meanwhile, Donald cast a Blizzara spell on Ding, who had also bothered to watch the battle with everyone else.

"This is what I get…", he said as he backed away. "…for messing with somebody with a genie." He then fell onto the acid floor and, much to my surprise, began to dissolve into it. I was horrified by it and turned away, then remembered the Barrier Jacket phenomenon Merlin explained to me. The barrier goes away when one loses consciousness, and Ding certainly lost it when he fell.

Behind Sora, the Parasite Cage fell backward into a heap on the floor. The Heartless emblem on its body shone and a single heart emerged from it, only to float up into the air and disappear. The Parasite Cage's body began to glow as it tumbled to the floor, inches short of Sora, and then dissolved into a series of bright purple lights. Once that was over, Sora got up and turned to Genie with a wide grin.

"Thanks, Genie."

Genie grinned back. "Any time, kids. Any time."

Genie saluted us, bowed low to the ground, then vanished in a puff of blue smoke. Suddenly, there was a great tremor, knocking us off balance. We looked around, and decided to run. We all hurried back out the way we came. Sora hesitated before following, looking around with a worried look on his face.

"Riku! Windelle!" he called again, praying for an answer this time. "Where are you guys?"

"Come on!", I cried out as I took out my scooter and grabbed him by the hand. However, as we escaped, I entered 'vision mode' once more.

_Why now?_, I thought._ Why now of all times?_

KHKHKHKHKH

'I' was now on what was apparently the deck of a ship. Not one of those I once rode but the sort after medieval times. 'I' didn't get to see much of it as my attention was turned to the Heartless all over the place, kinds I haven't seem before and seemed to be fitting to be part of the ship's crew. In the middle of the chaos was Florina, who was shooting down the Heartless. She dodged attacks with grace and ease as she seemed to look around for somebody.

"Windelle?", she cried out in a seemingly angry tone. "Where are you?"

"Please stop fighting.", 'I' heard Windelle say. "Stop fighting and the Heartless will stop too."

Florina did as he said and sure enough, the Heartless stood at ease. "Why are you on their side anyway?"

"Our friends have abandoned us."

"You really expect me to believe that? Do you plan on taking revenge? Take me to them so I can see for myself!"

"I can't let you do that."

"Why not?"

"…I see you won't be convinced."

"You made a pretty bad job at doing it."

"Then you leave me with no alternative."

Then, as one, the Heartless charged right at her. Before 'I' could cry out her name, 'I' was 'teleported'.

This time, 'I' was in a wooden room. There were all sorts of red furniture. There was also a yellow piano close by. Riku was staring down at Kairi, who could very well be lifeless were it not for her steady breathing and the strangely peaceful, content expression on her face.

"So.", he choked out, addressing Xin, who appeared behind him. "Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?"

"Exactly."

The silver-haired boy drew in a shuddering breath as he once again tried to digest what he had been told about Kairi's current state.

"And her heart was..."

"Taken by the Heartless.", he was answered calmly.

Riku immediately spun around to look at the man in green.

"Tell me!", he pleaded. "What can I do?"

"There are seven maidens of the purest heart.", Xin told him, turning his stare on Kairi. "We call them the Princesses of Heart. Gather them together, and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom. You will certainly find a way to recover Kairi's heart in there."

Riku lowered his gaze to the floor as he absorbed the information.

"Gather the Princesses of Heart.", he muttered. "Sounds easy enough."

"Now.", Xin continued. "I'll bestow upon you a gift."

A confused look appeared on Riku's face as he turned to look at Xin again.

"The power to control the Heartless." Xin raised his free hand and seemed to cast a spell.

A green glow suddenly encompassed Riku's body. He seemed to be taking it in very well as the energy coursed within him. When it faded, he turned to look back at Kairi, still lying unconscious on the red silk cushions. He then looked back at the comatose Kairi.

"Soon, Kairi. Soon."

Suddenly, 'I' was 'teleported' once again. 'I' was back at the deck of the ship. The Heartless were gone, and Florina lay on the floor, unconscious. 'I' stood there, helpless, unable to do anything but watch as Windelle walked up to her still body and picke her up. He seemed to be…off. There was a dark aura about him and his eyes seemed to be red. They weren't bloodshot, but actually red.

Maleficent appeared via a dark portal and walked up to Windelle.

"May I ask why you spared her?", she asked. "She is not a Princess of Heart and her Gun of Light can pose a threat to us."

"Let's just say I want to spite our enemies.", Windelle suddenly said with a evil chuckle.

"Our plans do not involve the Keyblade bearer or his friends in any way.", the sorceress told Windelle. 'I' raised an eyebrow, although I felt I knew the answer. "They merely serve as obstacles. While we indeed are evil, Stickee, we have reasons and agendas. Not like you, where you just do evil just for the sake of it."

"Whatever, Maleficent.", Windelle made a rude gesture as if to shoo her off. "I'll at least make sure not to get in the way of your plans."

_Oh no._, I gasped. _Windelle's been possessed. But Riku…_

Gummi Ship Time: Escape

Once I exited 'vision mode', the first thing I did was cough. We were in Monstro's mouth, and it was filled with thick, black smoke. The source of the smoke was a large bonfire going on the deck of Geppetto's ship. Geppetto and Pinocchio pushed a crude raft made up of various Gummi blocks toward the front of Monstro's mouth. It had a blanket for a sail and on the front was what looked like a small room, also made of Gummi blocks, with Cleo and Figaro inside of it.

"A raft?", I asked.

"What's going on?", Donald cried out.

"It won't work.", said Geppetto worriedly to his wooden son. "We'll never get by those teeth!"

"Yes, we will!" Pinocchio assured him.

"Wait!", I cried out. They stopped and turned. "Are you sure you can breathe out there? This isn't the sea, y'know." (1)

"Uh oh!", Geppetto said. "Why did I not think of that sooner?"

"Get back here! What are you guys trying to do anyway?"

Jiminy suddenly hopped up from Sora's hood and onto his shoulder, panting hard. He used his umbrella to point at the large fire still raging on the ship's deck.

"Pinocchio came up with a way for everyone to escape.", he explained quickly. "They built that huge fire so that the smoke would make Monstro sneeze."

"Make him sneeze?", Goofy echoed. "Gawrsh, won't that just make him mad?"

"That's what Geppetto said. But it seems like the only way."

As if on cue, Monstro's teeth parted slightly, opening up and air was sucked out from the mouth. We braced ourselves for it.

"This is what I feared!", I said as we held on tight. "I don't wanna die out in space!"

Jiminy grabbed hold of his top hat so it wouldn't fly away and pointed his umbrella to the Excalibur. "Chip and Dale are all through with the repairs and even prepared the ship for takeoff. We're just waiting for you three."

Sora nodded firmly. "I'm game. Guys?"

He looked back at us expectantly. Donald scratched his head in frustration and then ran to the Gummi Ship. "This is crazy!"

"Well, we've gotta go for it.", reasoned Goofy as he followed his friend.

Sora grinned and ran after them as well, scrambling toward the Gummi Ship with Jiminy back in his hood. As various items fluttered about in the air, Gregorio, Yoris, and I ran to Geppetto and Pinocchio.

"Geppetto, get your son and pets together and hold on tight to me!", Gregorio said as he took out the teleportation device. "Now!"

Quickly, as the old man went in the raft to get Cleo and Figaro, a sheet of paper hit me right in the face, which I quickly removed. I looked at it and recognized a rabbit and tiger there. Feeling this was another of the missing pages, I decided to pocket it. By that time, Geppetto exited his raft, holding his goldfish bowl and cat.

"Make sure everybody's held tight!", Gregorio said. Geppetto offered Cleo's goldfish bowl to Yoris, who held Pinocchio's hand, who held on to his father, who held onto me as I held on to Gregorio. "Hold on to your butts!" Gregorio pushed the button and we were teleported to the Transwarp Room.

"Everybody follow me!", Yoris ordered.

Quickly, Gregorio, me, Geppetto, and Pinocchio followed him out of the Transwarp Room and into the living room. Suddenly, a computer screen came down from the ceiling and the AI began to speak.

"While you guys were gone, I took the liberty of fixing up the ship.", the figure said. "Chosen One won't be too happy."

"Nice to see you too.", Gregorio said as he secured Geppetto, Pinocchio, and Figaro onto seats and fastened seat belts. "We're about to experience serious turbulence in a few seconds."

"We're out in space, so that technically isn't possible."

Yoris put Cleo's fishbowl on the table, took out something from one of the shelves, and used it to secure her bowl and water tight. "Better brace yourselves, guys. It's gonna be a bumpy ride."

Gregorio, Yoris, and I made our way to the cockpit and strapped ourselves in. As Gregorio started up the Destiny, a screen came down and the AI showed up again.

"I'm sorry for not communicating with you since giving you the Diary.", it said.

"It's okay. I understand."

"Say, where're Windelle and Riku?", Yoris asked.

I then remembered the visions I saw. "Uh, they—"

Suddenly, Monstro let loose his mighty sneeze, sending both the Destiny, the Excalibur, and Geppetto's empty raft hurtling through interspace. The ship's machines were disoriented by the force and we were spinning around, but since there was no gravity outside the ship, we didn't stumble about. Gregorio then slammed his hand down on the turbo button to propel us forward, taking us far away from the giant whale. It was a while longer before both ships stabilized and we were flying peacefully through space.

"We made it.", sighed Sora in relief as the communications system activated. Then his eyes seemed to widen as he looked elsewhere. "Ah! Pinocchio!"

I unstrapped myself and looked out through the window as the raft spun in space and out of sight.

"Don't worry.", Gregorio said. "We boarded them up on our ship."

"Thank goodness.", Sora sighed once more. "May I talk to them?"

"Will do.", Yoris said as he got up and went to the lift. A minute later, Yoris returned with Geppetto and Pinocchio.

"How are you guys?", asked Sora.

"We're fine. Thank you very much.", Geppetto said. He then turned to me. "Oh almost forgot. I'd like to hand you these." The old man rummaged in his pocket and took out four spheres, a scroll, and one object that looked like a 9-volt battery.

"Hey.", Yoris said. "Another 'part'."

"Part?", Pinochio asked.

"We're after them for the person who loaned us this ship."

I took the items, gave the battery to Yoris, stowed the scroll to give to Sora later, and saw that the four spheres were Power Orbs, three of them green, and one of them yellow. The first green one had a clock, the second had a pink bow and arrow, and the third had three stars in a circle. The yellow had what I could only describe as a shockwave. I stored them in my bag as well, thinking of asking Merlin about them later.

"Wait a second." Pinocchio said. "Where are those two silver-haired friends of yours, Sora?" Sora seemed to react to this and look down, no longer smiling. "Uhh, did I say something wrong?"

We all turned to look at Sora, the sadness and confusion was apparent on his face. Donald and Goofy exchanged concerned looks, then the latter turned back to Sora with a smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Sora!", he said, trying to cheer him up. "I'm sure they're okay somewhere. Yer gonna meet 'em again, you'll see!"

"Yeah!", Donald added with a nod. "They're tough guys, so they'll be fine!"

Sora turned back to his friends. "You're right.", he said with a boyish grin. "There's no way they would let something like getting swallowed by a monstrous whale hold them back. At least Riku."

As the grin returned to Sora's face, we all relaxed. As he, Donald, and Goofy began to joke about the peril we just escaped, Yoris and I turned to Geppetto and Pinocchio.

"Well, you better get back down.", I said as Donald taught Sora how to drive the Excalibur. "It'll be a while before we get to Traverse Town."

"Traverse Town?", Geppetto asked.

"It's a refuge for people who have lost their worlds to the Heartless like you.", Yoris explained.

"Okay." Both father and son make their way to the lift and went down.

"Wow, that was a confusing episode.", I said as I leaned back on my seat and immediately dropped off.

**Geppetto**

_The kind, gentle clock maker. All his skill went into making Pinocchio. When the little puppet disappeared, Geppetto set out to find him, but he and his tiny boat were swallowed by Monstro, the whale._

_He provided shelter in "Pinocchio" (1940)._

**Parasite Cage**

_Heartless that appeared inside Monstro. It's known to swallow its enemies. Sora and the others rescues Pinocchio, who was trapped inside it._

**Ding**

_A member of Maleficent's group. It's unknown why he was in Monstro, but Rael assumes he was presumably assigned to look for survivors in the whale._

(1) Well, how could one expect a raft to work in outer space, even if it's made of Gummi Blocks? Sure, _Birth By Sleep _calls them the Lanes Between, but they'll be exposed to darkness instead.

-See ya on Third.-


	13. Special 2: Extra Stories

nightelf37: Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there (or the manga), or even the move where the current world is based on, I 'own' it. And here is 'my' current Power Orb inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Fire, Cure, Esuna, Aero, Gravity, Regen, Poison, Silence

(skills) Shield Boomer, Sky Dropper, Boomer Blast

(summons) Baloo

In storage:

(spells) Thunder, Blizzard, Stop, Charm, Confuse

(skills) Aura Wave

(summons) Bahamut (not 'activated' yet), ? (will be known shortly, not 'activated' yet)

Special 2: Extra To-do's

Part I. Three Summons and More Explanations

The moment we landed safely back in Traverse Town, we all made our way to the Accessory Shop, then stopped upon remembering that Cid wasn't there anymore.

I sighed in disappointment. "Now what to do with you guys?", I wondered.

Geppetto and Pinocchio were looking around the town, perhaps thinking of where to stay.

"I guess we'll just look around for a while, then.", Geppetto said.

"Okay, I guess.", Sora said.

"We'll be okay.", said Pinocchio. He then took his father's hand and led him somewhere in town.

"I think they'll be fine.", said Yoris once they were gone. "Now where were we going again?"

"I remember!", said Sora as he and Donald ran one way. The rest of us followed them as we made it all the way to Merlin's place, taking down a Heartless or two along the way. Once we made it to his study, Merlin was sitting in his large chair, sipping some tea.

"You've come here looking to practice your magic, have you, Sora?", he said.

The young Key Bearer raised his eyebrows, blinking. "Oh, uh, yeah."

"Sure has!", laughed Goofy.

"He thinks he's as good as me!", Donald exclaimed like it was an insult. Sora shot him an annoyed look.

"Oh really?", Merlin raised his eyebrows as he put his hands on Sora's shoulders, looking him up and down. "Then let me take a look at you. Hmm… It seems like you have been getting better, Sora."

The Key Bearer seemed proud of this and glanced smugly at Donald, who just rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest.

The old wizard pointed his staff at a spot on the ceiling and gave it a quick swish. A diamond shaped portion of the ceiling drifted down until it was level with the table. "Now then, to practice your magic."

Merlin ushered us on top of the platorm. Once we all complied, he got up as well and, with another flick of his staff, raised the platform back up into the ceiling. Within moments, we were now in the middle of what I assumed to be Merlin's attic. It was a large empty space with colorful, almost festive flooring.

_Bigger on the inside…_, I thought._ Typical with magic._

"Now then.", Merlin said, clearing his throat. "How would you like to begin?"

Sora turned back to Merlin with a quizzical expression on his face. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Your practice session, of course. You see, I can conjure up any number of targets for you to practice your magic on. Now, the question is whether or not you'd want them to move around the room or merely stand still."

"Take it easy on him, Merlin.", Donald quacked, making an arrogant smirk. "He's still just a rookie."

"**Hey!**", Sora retorted.

Merlin only laughed. "Alright then, we'll start with stationary targets."

Sora frowned, folding his arms over his chest and shooting Donald an annoyed look.

"Uh, Merlin?", Gregorio asked. The wizard turned to him. "Can Rael and Yoris join in? I'm sure they could use some accuracy training."

"Why of course." Merlin then turned to us. "Please. Come join Sora."

Yoris shot a look at Gregorio as he and I did as he said.

With a flick of his staff, Merlin conjured up several round dartboard-shaped targets, which hovered a few feet over the ground. The old wizard then turned back to us.

"Any time you're ready, boys."

We pulled out our weapons and stepped forward. Sorra then glanced back at Donald. "Remember our bet. I prove that I've gotten better, I get to drive the Excalibur."

"Yeah. But if not, hands off 'til I say so!", the duck added.

"Right."

And with that, Sora turned back to the floating furniture. He took the handle of the Keyblade in both hands and focused. I twirled by DirLuxGun, only to drop it. I quicly recalled it into my hands.

"Oops.", I said. "Forgot my gun doesn't have a guard around the trigger."

We then proceeded in our attack, Sora unleashing as many spells as he could on the "opponents" that hovered before us. Yoris launched fireball after fireball at the targets while I alternated between shots and spells.

Merlin stroked his beard thoughtfully as he watched. "What's this about a bet?", he asked, leaning slightly toward Goofy.

Goofy just laughed. "Donald and Sora got into an argument a while ago. Somethin' about what Sora's been learnin' lately… Gawrsh, I'm not too sure how it started, but they decided to settle it with a bet."

The wizard smiled slightly and shook his head. By that time, the trial was over and Sora came running back up to him with an excited look on his face, eagerly bouncing on his heels.

"Well?", he prompted Merlin, unable to contain himself. "I've gotten better, right?"

"You certainly have, Sora! I'm rather impressed with how much you've learned and improved. You're making excellent progress."

Sora's blue eyes grew wide in excitement. "Really? You mean it?" When Merlin smiled and nodded, he rounded on Donald. "**Hah!** I told you!"

Donald just muttered something under his breath. Sora then asked Merlin to let the targets fly around the room and tried practicing on them, but soon found that it wasn't quite as easy as he thought. However, Yoris seemed to be able to hit them, predicting their location by firing at where they would be. I caught on with this tactic and was soon able to hit the targets. I wasn't as good as Yoris at this, but I was certainly better than Sora. At once, Donald let out a victorious cheer.

"So I guess we're still tied.", Sora announced with a grin, putting his arms over his head. "I think the score's two each now."

"Gawrsh!" exclaimed Goofy, scratching his head. "Were you fellas keepin' score?"

"Stop that!", Donald bellowed.

Merlin then brought us all back to the study, and gave Sora a keychain "for his progress in learning magic". It was a gold karabiner with a rusty chain attached and a green spellbook as the charm. Sora summoned his Keyblade, and replaced the keychains. The Keyblade then changed.

The handle was now dark blue and the guard encircled the handle like a white, squat teardrop where the top was a white heart. There were two dark blue arches with a hole in the center of each, one on each side of the top of the guard. The shaft consisted of two separate blue poles ending at the "teeth" resembling half of a gear. There was a dark blue circle, surrounded by a light blue, then another dark blue circle around that which was the inside of the teeth piece; this group of circles was attached to the shaft by another light blue arc. The outer side of the circles was a half circle with a point at the peak and two small spheres within the half circle, one by the peak and one in the center of the arc. The top of the shaft was a dark blue, six-pointed star within a light blue circle.

After Sora examined his Keyblade's new form, Merlin then offered us advice on how best to proceed on our journey. I remembered the pages I retrieved and offered it to Sora, then turned to Merlin and took out my new Power Orbs and asked the wizard what they were. Merlin told me that the orb with the bow and arrow casts Charm, the one with the three stars casts Confuse, the one with the clock casts Stop, and that the Yellow one is an ability called Aura Wave, which can be used to knock back any enemies close by.

I then took out the white scroll and handed it to Sora. When he took it, when it disappeared, he seemed to comletely pause for 3 seconds before moving again. He didn't seem to notice, and Merlin told us that Sora now has the Stop spell. When Sora asked what the Stop spell does, he said that it does exactly that; Stop a target in time. He thought it wasn't useful, but Donald told him that he can attack Stopped enemies, rendering them helpless.

I then told Merlin about our time in Monstro, and talked about the impossibilities that I noticed, including the concept of outer space not having air. I also talked about a couple more other things. While I couldn't remember everything he told me, I was satisfied with the answers. Suddenly, I sensed a brilliant flash of light behind me. Everyone else noticed and turned. It was coming from the book that we delivered. When the light faded, we saw that the book was open. We also realized that Sora was missing.

"Sora? Sora!", Donald cried out.

"Hey…isn't that the book we delivered?", Gregorio asked.

"Yeah.", I said as I then turned to Merlin. "About the pages we found, we didn't find them in chests. Well, one we did find in a chest, but it was jutting out of one that already had loads of gold coins."

"Is that so?", the wizard said. "My theory is that they were taken out of their chests, then placed elsewhere."

"Sounds plausible.", I said as I went to the book. I took it from where it lay and looked at it. "Hey. I remember this story. I used to read them when I was a kid."

"What is it?", Yoris asked.

"It's a story about a stuffed bear named Winnie-the-Pooh, Pooh for short. He is a yellow bear doll with a red shirt and not much brain. The stories I read were about his time in a place called the Hundred Acre Wood. He had a number of friends. One of them was named piglet doll named Piglet, who is very cowardly, but tries to be brave. Then there's a rabbit named Rabbit, who tends to a garden and sometimes provides hunny for Pooh."

"Hunny?", Gregorio asked. "Are you sure you remember it right?"

"I know it's honey, but that's how it's spelled here. I mean, the money here is called munny, right? Anyway, another of Pooh's friends is Tigger, a tiger doll who is a lively spirit and loves to bounce around, much to Rabbit's annoyance. Then there's Eeyore, a donkey doll who is very…pessimistic and sometimes loses his tail, don't ask. Then there's an owl named Owl, who is supposedly wise, but keeps getting distracted whenever he talks about his relatives. Then, there's a kangaroo mother and her joey named Kanga and Roo respectively. Kanga is a very motherly fellow, while Roo is a cheerful kid who looks up to Tigger. There's also Gopher, who pops around on occasion. However, there is one friend of Pooh's who is most precious to him. A kid named Christopher Robin. He is a regular boy, a few years younger than Sora, and doesn't really come much, but he and Pooh really cherish each other."

Donald, Goofy, Gregorio, Yoris, and even Merlin just stared at me, seemingly at a loss for words. I noticed their looks and said, "I don't know why I seem to remember this, yet not remember a lot of other things."

"Like what?", Goofy asked me.

"For some reason, I feel like I'm supposed to know the following; you and Donald, Leon and company, Irvine and company, the Keyblade, the Heartless, and all those worlds we've been to so far. I feel like I've seen them before, but the memory's all fuzzy."

"Hmm.", said Merlin. "Now that's a very curious case."

"Is it possible if you could remedy my condition?", I asked the wizard. "Or at least lead me to somebody who could?"

"I'm sorry, young lad, but I'm afraid memories aren't among the things I can help with with magic."

"Oh.", I sighed, crestfallen. "I see."

Just then, the book seemed to shake and shine again. In a state of panic, I returned the book and we all stood back. Once the light faded, Sora was there, with a light green stone in his hand. Sora stared at it for a moment, and turrned it over in his hand, inspecting it.

"**Sora!**", Donald cried out.

"Sora, you're back!", Goofy cried out at the same time as he and Donald tackled the Key Bearer to the ground. They held onto him firmly as he pried himself free and looked into their faces.

"Um… hi?", was all he said. Donald leapt to his feet, pulled out his staff, and bopped Sora over the head with it. "**Ow!**" As Sora sat back up into a sitting position, rubbing the new bruise on his head, the duck glared at him, tapping one foot on the floor.

"What happened, Sora?", Gregorio asked. "You had us all worried, just vanishing like that!"

"S-Sorry, guys."

"So, what happened?", asked Goofy, helping Sora to his feet. "Where'd you go?"

"Oh yeah! I went inside that book!"

Merlin raised his eyebrows in surprise. "**Inside **the book?"

"Yeah! There's a whole other world in there!"

The wizard stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Another world?"

"Yeah!"

Sora then went on to tell everyone about his adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood; from the moment he met Pooh all the way until he'd been returned to the study. While Goofy, Donald, Yoris, and Gregorio were fascinated by the story, Merlin found this new information intriguing and somewhat insightful. As I remembered some of the tales from what Sora told me, I asked about the characters, and heard that he met Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger, and Owl. I asked if he saw any hint of the others, particularly of the boy named Christopher Robin, he shook his head. He then asked me how I knew of them, and I proceeded to explain what I explained to everyone else. As soon as I stopped talking, Merlin was eyeing the book where it lay, deep in thought.

"So in order for everything to go back to normal, I have to find the missing pages, just like Merlin said before.", Sora finished.

"Gawrsh, that sounds like a big job.", said Goofy, scratching the back of his neck. "You sure you can do it?"

Sora grinned. "Of course! I promised I'd help them out and I will."

"Well then, the book and all of its inhabitants will be right here waiting for you, Sora.", Merlin said as he set the book back to its proper position. "Come back whenever you find a torn page."

Sora smiled. "Thanks. I will."

"Hey, what's this thing?", Goofy asked as he picked up a light-green orb. As it turned out, Sora had dropped it while telling us about his adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood.

"It's one of those summon gems that the Fairy Godmother told us about, remember?.", he said. "That one was in my hand when I came out of the book. And also…" He reached into his pockets and pulled out the blue one. "I found this one inside Monstro." Donald and Goofy stuck out their tongues in disgust. Sora twisted his face up in mock annoyance. "Oh, so **now** it's gross to you guys! Once we're not in there anymore with his guts and saliva!"

The three all laughed at that, leaving the rest of us more than a little confused. Once the trio finally stopped laughing, Merlin gestured to a model of a white horse-drawn carriage that sat on the floor near the doorway. The room filled with sparkles of blue light, and within moments, the Fairy Godmother appeared before us.

She didn't seem to need anyone filling her in since as soon as she spotted the stones in Sora's hands, she merely smiled and extended one hand toward him, clearly asking to see them. I decided to take out the silver orb in my pocket as well as the red one in my bag. As Sora handed over the stones, she examined them from all sides, her lips pursed thoughtfully. When she finished, she smiled broadly and pulled out her wand. She then gave back the green orb to Sora.

"Let's help this ones first.", she said lightly. "Here we go! Bibbity bobbity boo!"

With another twinkling of white lights, there was a flash. We all covered our eyes due to the brightness. As the light finally began to dissipate, the silhouette of a strange animal appeared. When the light faded, I saw that it was a young elephant. However, what was different about this elephant compared to most was that its ears were very large. The young elephant also wore a yellow hat of some kind with a red feather.

"Who are you?", the elephant asked.

I raised my eyebrow in suspicion. _I don't remember him ever talking at all._, I thought._ Why do keep remembering bits and pieces, and not remembering the rest to piece them together? _

Sora stepped forward and introduced himself. One by one, the rest of us followed.

"Uhh…can we first get out somewhere where it's a litte less crowded?", the elephant asked. Merlin cast a spell and before we knew it, we were outside the study. The elephant sat in the water. "I'm Dumbo. What happened to me?"

Sora turned to us with a sigh. We all remembered what happened when we first 'recruited' Simba and Baloo to our cause.

"Well you see Dumbo, your home, it's, um, not there.", Sora managed to say.

"What? What do you mean? It's still there, at least last I checked."

"But Dumbo, you saw black creatures attack, right?", Yoris asked.

"Yeah."

"Heartless.", said Donald.

"What are those?"

"There the darkness in a person's heart.", Goofy explained. "They go around an' eat hearts of worlds, making them disappear. They ate yours."

"B-But, what about Timothy? And my mom?"

"Gone." Sora confirmed with a sigh.

"Gone? There all…gone?"

"I'm sorry."

Dumbo seemed to be at the verge of bursting into tears. Much to nearly everyone's surprise (me being the exception somehow), he flew up using his giant ears, but Sora caught his tail and climbed onto his back. We watched the two land on the roof of Merlin's home.

"Dumbo—", Sora began to say.

"There all gone.", Dumbo lamented as he pulled the red feather out of his hat with his trunk. "My friends, my family, gone. There's no way I can get them back."

"I can sympathize with you. I lost my parents too, and my island home. But I know how to get them back. Yours too."

"How?"

KHKHKHKHKH

After explaining to Dumbo, we all made our way back to the study, where the Fairy Godmother consoled the elephant and told him of what to do to help. After she cast a spell, he nodded in understanding, then disappeared into his blue orb.

"Okay.", I said. I turned to Sora. "The other one." Sora took out the green orb and handed it to the Fairy Godmother. She then did the same thing as before.

"Bibbity… Bobbity… Boo!"

Again, with another twinkling of white lights, there was a flash. Once the light faded, there stood a young deer, who still had his white spots. Yoris identified him to be male.

"Hey there, little fella.", Goofy said as he stretched out a hand. The deer backed away, obviously frightened.

"I think he's scared.", Donald said. Sora decided to walk up to him.

"Hi there." He then introduced all of us to the deer. "What's your name?"

"I'm Bambi.", he replied nervously. "Where am I?"

We looked at each other nervously, just hating to say that their world was gone every single time. Nontheless, we explained.

"…and so we have to save the worlds.", Sora finished up.

"I don't think I can help.", Bambi said as he lowered his head.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm weak. While that was happening to my friends, I was playing a game. I ran upon seeing the Heartless. I'm a coward."

"But Bambi, you're not weak. Just being here proves that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you have a strong heart, that same heart is what saved you from being consumed by the darkness."

Bambi started to perk up, and then nodded.

"Oh yeah.", I said as I turned to the Fairy Godmother. "What will be Bambi's power? You bestowed Dumbo the ability to shoot water from his trunk that can freeze opponents. Bambi doesn't even look like the sort who would be willing to hurt a fly."

"Hmm…I think I shall bestow upon him the ability to heal as he moves.", she said.

"Oh. I see. That's a good one."

The Fairy Godmother flicked her wand at Bambi, and he seemed to have a natural green aura around him. He then disappeared into his emerald-colored orb. With a nod from Sora, I took out my silver-colored orb and handed it to the Fairy Godmother. As usual, she did her stuff.

"Bibbity… Bobbity… Boo!"

Again, with another twinkling of white lights, there was a flash. Once the light faded, there stood something we didn't expect, seeing that animals were usually our new summons, not counting Genie. This one seemed to be a robot of some kind. It was short, and had limbs that were somehow able to stretch. Its 'head' seemed to consist of a floating golden part with two green 'cameras' that had yellow shutters as it blinked.

"This is new.", I said. "It's a robot."

"Who are you?", the robot asked in a clearly confused tone.

As usual, the six of us introduced ourselves. We then asked for the robot's name.

"XR. The Experimental Ranger. How did I get here? What happened to me?"

"How do I say this?", I said as I rubbed the back of my head. "You see, XR, your home is… not there."

We expected him to seemingly lament or something negative, but to everyone's surprise, he seemed to laugh hysterically, thinking I just made a joke. "Oh, that's a good one."

"We're serious here.", Yoris said. "You saw black creatures attack, right?"

XR relieved himself as he got up from rolling on the floor. "Uh, yeah?"

"They are Heartless.", Gregorio explained. "They manifest from the darkness in a person's heart. They go around consuming Hearts of worlds, and they did so with yours too."

"Is this a joke?", XR asked, not convinced. "If it is, it's not a good one. Besides, Star Command is my home, and it's a space station. It can't possibly—"

"Okay.", I said.

"So…you don't have any friends there?", Sora asked.

"They're on leave in another planet. I'm sure they're safe.", XR said proudly, then seemed to sulk. "But what will they feel if they find out that Star Command is gone? It's the only way I can contact them. How can I possibly get back? I don't even know where I am."

"Well, will you help us?", Yoris asked. "We're finding a way to restore the worlds and once that happens, you'll return to yours."

"Waiiit. How will I know you're telling the truth?"

"I'm afraid you'll just have to trust us.", Donald said matter-of-factly. "You're in a world where magic exists." He raised his staff and conjured a flame, then an ice crystal.

"Wow. Okay! I'm up."

The Fairy Godmother than waved her wand and XR disappeared into his orb, which was now red.

"Now how does a robot have a heart?", the court mage asked himself as I took the Power Orb that would call him up.

"Pinocchio has a heart.", Yoris argued. "And he's a puppet."

As I took out the Bahamut Power Orb I received from Genie, just before I could offer it to the Fairy Godmother, Merlin got up from his seat.

"Where in blazes did you get that?", he cried out as if in distress.

I raised my eyebrows and panicked, "Oh no! Is something wrong with this? What's wrong? Is it infected by darkness? Is its power too costly for me to use? Why oh why did Genie give me something so dangerou—" I was smacked in the side by Donald's staff.

"Calm down!", he cried out. "Let's hear what Melin has to say!"

"It's Me**r**lin, Donald.", Goofy corrected him.

"Hand over the orb to me.", said the wizard. I complied and gave the Bahamut Power Orb to him. "Now, where did you get this?"

"From a genie in the world of Agrabah."

"I see." Merlin scrutinized the red orb that contained Bahamut. "This orb contains a very powerful dragon, I don't even know how he was sealed in something like this."

"Is it possible that he isn't even sealed at all?", Sora asked. "After all, I am able to summon the Genie Rael talked about with this." He summoned his Keyblade, then indicated the keychain.

"Well, in any case, I'm afraid you're not ready to summon him yet.", the wizard told me. "I can tell that this orb contains a lot of power and you simply are too weak for the moment. I think I shall keep it here for now."

"Okay, Merlin.", I said. I then turned to Sora and the others. "Well, we should get going, right?"

"Right.", Sora nodded.

Then, saying goodbye to Merlin, and the Fairy Godmother, we left the magician's study and made our way back to the Gummi Ship.

Part II. Various Gifts

When we reached First District, Donald announced that he needed to stock up. However, as we headed for the triplets' item shop, we saw Pinocchio running for us, pulling his father along.

"Sora! Good news!", the puppet said as they stopped in front of us.

"What?", the Key Bearer asked.

"We were given a house to live in."

"By who?", I asked.

"A man named Leon.", said Geppetto in reply with a smile. He pointed toward a small building on the other side of First District we never seen before. "I don't know how I'll ever repay his kindness."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all exchanged incredulous looks. Then Sora turned back to Geppetto with a nervous grin.

"Um…This Leon guy you're talkin' about…Does he have long brown hair and a scar across his face?"

Geppetto blinked. "Why, yes! Do you know him?" Donald and Sora looked at each other again while Goofy tilted his head to one side in confusion. "Say, I hear you three are fighting the Heartless."

Goofy laughed softly. "Yup! We sure are!"

"Those were the monsters in Monstro.", said Gregorio. Donald stared at him sternly. "What?"

Geppetto's smile grew. "I thought I might be able to help you, so I made this."

The elderly man pulled out several slips of paper and held them out for us. Before I could even get a good look, Donald snatched it up and examined each one intently. Goofy leaned in to get a better look. Gregorio looked over their shoulders to see. Their eyes then widened in wonder.

"Gawrsh, Mr. Geppetto! This is…"

"This is really something!"

Sora, Yoris and I also leaned in to see. I could tell they were blueprints of some kind, but that was all I could tell.

"Uh…What is it?", Sora asked.

"They're designs.", Geppetto explained. "For that Gummi ship of yours!"

Sora's eyes widened as he looked back down at the designs, then up again at Geppetto.

"For us?"

"But of course!", cried Geppetto excitedly. "Pinocchio and I can't thank you enough! We'll do anything we can to help you."

"Thank you, Geppetto!", Donald quacked eagerly, still studying the blueprints.

Geppetto smiled sheepishly. "Well, we'd better get home. Right, Pinocchio?"

The puppet looked up into his father's face and nodded happily.

"Yeah, we should actually get going, too.", said Yoris. "Well, it was great seeing you guys again! We'll be sure to tell Jiminy that you're okay."

"Oh, I almost forgot!", Pinocchio exclaimed as he dug into his pocket and produced a very simple looking keychain. "I thought maybe you could use this. I sure hope it helps."

He held it up so we could get a better look at it. Dangling at the end of the chain was a finely crafted wooden star, its surface coated in bright yellow-gold. I couldn't even believe it was wood at first until Yoris told me so.

Geppetto blinked at the gift in recognition and turned to his son. "Pinocchio, where did you find that?"

"Well, I saw it on the table before we left the house and decided to bring it with us.", he explained. "I guess I… just had a feeling that it would be of better use to Sora than us."

Geppetto's face softened. "Pinocchio…"

Even Sora was surprised by Pinocchio's statement and could do nothing but smile. Pinocchio grinned up at him, then blew on the keychain in his hand and quickly wiped its surface on his vest. Then, he held it out for Sora to take.

"Thanks, Pinocchio!", Sora smiled as he pocketed the keychain. "I'm sure it'll come in handy."

We then waved goodbye to Geppetto and Pinocchio as they returned to their new home.

"I wonder what their new place is like.", Sora mused as we make our way to the item shop. "I mean, Leon was the one who gave it to them, so…"

"But…", Donald scratched the side of his head. "Leon?"

"To be honest, I didn't think of him as the kind of person who'd hand out entire houses to newcomers.", Sora said with a shrug. "I mean, sure, he's helped us a lot with our journey, but…"

"He sure is a real serious fella.", Goofy finished.

"I guess there's just a lot about Leon that we don't know yet. And there's nothing wrong with being friendly, right?"

"Maybe.", Donald said slowly. He then set his face into a grumpy frown as usual. "Ah, who cares? Let's just forget about it."

The court wizard threw open the door to the item shop and entered in a bit of a huff. Sora and Goofy exchanged glances and, smiling, we all followed our feathered friend inside.

The family members exchanged the usual greetings, almost like the last time we'd been here, and then Donald and Huey got into an argument about how they were overcharging their 'dearest uncle.' Goofy shuffled his feet awkwardly while Sora distracted himself by browsing the store's shelves. I looked with Sora as Gregorio and Yoris seemed to play rock-paper-scissors with one another.

However, a few particular rows caught our eye. "These are all weapons, right?", Sora asked one of the triplet ducks.

Dewey came to his assistance. "That's right!", he exclaimed proudly. "I picked these out myself! We've got some of the best weapons around in stock."

Sora raised his eyebrows in surprise and plucked one from the shelf. It was a staff, much like the one that Donald used. It also had a small figurine on top that looked something like a mage with a large hat, but while the colors on Donald's staff were blue and brown, this one was maroon and red. Sora examined it from all sides, screwing his eyes up as he stared into what he figured to be the figure's face.

"That's a Magus Staff.", Dewey announced. He then cleared his throat, as if about to recite. "A mystical staff that brims with power."

"Really?" Sora switched the staff into his other hand and used his free hand to grab something else off the shelf. "What about this?"

He picked up a blue, diamond-shaped shield that bore a blue and gold design on its surface. Dewey peered at the shield, and then grinned.

"That one's a Mythril Shield. 'A shield that strikes a fine balance between attack and defense.'"

Sora nodded absently, holding the shield out before him so he could get a better look at it.

I looked at the row of various weapons. "What other weapons do you have for sale, Dewey?"

"Let's see…thanks to our new supplier, other than staves and shields, we now got magic crossbows, spears, axes, tomes, swords, wheels, a pouch with infinite throwing stars and knives, swords…are you looking for something for your friend with the cannon?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Well, we don't have any cannons, but we have some items that can change what balls he shoots."

"Who's your supplier anyway?"

"That's something we do not divulge to our customers."

"Okay. So…"

"How much are the Magus Staff and the Mythril Shield?", Sora interrupted with a grin.

Dewey screwed his face up, then turned around, cupping one hand around his beak, and called out to Huey, interrupting his argument with their uncle. "Hey Huey! How much are the Magus Staff and the Mythril Shield?"

Huey looked thoughtful for a moment, then reached for a clipboard from behind the counter. As his eyes quickly scanned over their inventory list, both Donald and Goofy gave Sora a questioning look. The boy's grin grew even broader. Yoris and Gregorio were still playing rock-paper-scissors, not having noticed.

"What?", he asked innocently.

"Why're you buying those things, Sora?", Goofy wanted to know.

He smiled as he walked to the counter and put the items down. "Just some presents for my friends."

Goofy tilted his head curiously. "Y'mean Riku and Kairi?" He was answered with a laugh.

"The shield is 750 Munny, and the staff is 1000 Munny.", Huey told Sora.

Sora faced me, then I shrugged and offered him my Munny bag, its total of which was more than 4000, much to my surprise. I had no idea we earned that much from taking down Heartless. As he reached inside and pulled out the required amount, the counter on the pouch lowered by 1750. Sora then handed the munny to Dewey, who made his way to the cashier.

"Could you include all the stuff Donald's getting, too?"

Huey and Dewey exchanged looks as they accepted Sora's payment. The former then bolted for the shelf, grabbed a bag, and quickly began to stuff it with all the things Donald asked for, who stared wide-eyed at Sora, who in turn simply grinned back at him.

"What's the big idea?", he quacked. "I almost got 'em to break and give us a discount!"

"Gawrsh, really?", asked Goofy. "It looked like Huey was winning that argument to me…"

Donald grumbled something under his breath. Huey snickered as he passed the bag of goods over the counter to Sora, who thanked them before turning to his companions. He then handed my Munny bag to me.

I turned to Dewey and said, "I think I'll order…"

KHKHKHKHKH

Finally, we made it back to the entrance where the Excalibur waited.

"Hey, thanks for the gear.", Gregorio said as he swung his new javelin about. The wood was still the same, but the tip was different. It was of a different metal, and was more ornate, yet seemingly more effective.

"Yeah.", Yoris agreed. "I can shoot ice balls now!" (2)

Meanwhile, Sora reached into his bag and grabbed the two items he had just purchased.

"These are great!", he said happily, holding them out at arm's length so he could get a better look at them. "Perfect!"

"If those're gifts for Riku and Kairi, how're you gonna deliver 'em?", asked Goofy. "We don't know where they are!"

"And we don't know where Florina and Windelle are either.", asked Donald. "Will you be giving them to your friends at Refuge Asylum?"

Sora laughed. "Donald, these aren't for them, they're for you and Goofy!"

They both blinked in surprise. Sora's smile broadened as he handed the Magus Staff and Mythril Shield to Donald and Goofy respectively. Their eyes wandered from Sora's face, to the new equipment, to one another, then back to Sora.

"Gawrsh… For us?"

"But… what for?"

Sora shrugged. "No real reason, I guess. I mean, you're my friends. I can't get you gifts just for that?"

The dog and duck's eyes grew wide in astonishment. "Just for being your friends?"

"Oh. They're that close now?", Gregorio muttered.

"Yeah! I don't know where I'd be without you guys around.", Sora continued.

Warm smiles grew on both of their faces. "Sora…"

"And besides…" Sora's smile suddenly turned into a toothy grin. "Imagine how awesome we'll be with this new gear! We'll be kicking Heartless butt left and right! We'll be invincible!"

For some reason, Gregorio and Yoris fell to the floor in a face-fault. I merely slapped my face from the change of the moment from heartwarming to ridiculously logical. Goofy looked completely confused and Donald's face fell into an annoyed frown. "That'll show everyone how tough we are! Take that, Riku! You just wait and see how much stronger we'll get!" Then, still grinning excitedly, Sora turned back to look at Donald and Goofy, then to the rest of us. "You guys with me?"

Donald and Goofy looked at one another as Sora's grin faded slowly. Then suddenly, they both burst into laughter.

Sora blinked again. "What's so funny?"

"That look on your face!", laughed Goofy.

"Huh?"

"Never mind.", said Donald, still grinning. "Anyways, it doesn't matter why you gave us new weapons."

"We'll take 'em anyway!"

With that, Goofy and Donald slung their arms around Sora and half-dragged him back to the Gummi ship. Gregorio just groaned and took out the teleportation device.

"What a ridiculous moment.", Gregorio said as he teleported back to the Destiny.

Part III. The Pegasus Cup

We made our way to Olympus Coliseum, hearing that there's another tournament taking place. Once we landed, after noticing two Gummi Ships parked near the gates, we crossed the square where Hercules greeted us. We waved back as we bypassed him and entered the lobby to inquire with Phil.

"Welcome back, junior heroes!", he called. "You came for the tournament?"

"Of course.", Sora answered.

"You know the rules, right? Which tournament do you wanna enter?"

"Which?", Yoris asked.

"We got more than one tournament. There's the Phil Cup again, should Sora wanna go alone."

"What's the new cup?", asked Gregorio.

"It's the Pegasus Cup."

"We're taking that.", Sora answered. "Together."

KHKHKHKHKH

As always, once we entered the arena, the crowd was already there, cheering. As a matter of fact they even had certain stuff they couldn't possibly have had in their 'time period'. There were in fan wear that were reminiscent of my world. They were holding up signs with our names on them. There were "I Love You {name}" signs, "Marry Me {name}" signs (especially on Sora, but I felt for some reason that Kairi's the only one for him). There were even a few fans wearing costumes of Donald and Goofy.

I did a double take at the sight of them. The costumes resembled the Donald and Goofy I was seeing. Does the spell concealing their appearance from world natives not work here, or because they don't see him and Goofy as strange-looking? I pushed the thought aside as we entered the arena and prepared for battle as the barrier manifested itself.

The 9th seed featured us up against two Search Ghosts, one Bandit, and three Air Soldiers. Like before, ten battles. For some reason, it was dark, but I didn't care as we started to fight. The fight was laughably easy, but we knew that it would only get harder with each passing battle.

The 8th seed was composed of two Bandits, three Barrel Spiders, and four Shadows. We started with a Fire barrage, which blew up the Barrel Spiders, taking down most of the Heartless in one go, but a Bandit survived. It was swiftly taken down by Yoris.

The 7th seed consisted of a Fat Bandit, two Large Bodies, a Barrel Spider, and a Pot Spider.

"Now that's not fair!", Donald complained.

"Which will make our victory all the sweeter.", replied Gregorio as he twirled his javelin.

We expected the battle to be difficult, but much to our surprise, it was over in a jiffy. As it turned out, the big Heartless were just as strong as we when we first faced them, while on the other hand, we were much stronger. Also, the Barrel Spider blowing up probably helped.

The 6th seed pitted us against five Pot Spiders, three Yellow Operas, and two Green Requiems. We all scattered, and dealt with all of them in the span of 20 seconds. At least it would've been were it not for the remaining Pot Spiders running about to get away.

The 5th seed consisted of two Fat Bandits and four Search Ghosts. It was a difficult fight, especially with the Search Ghosts teleporting around and the Fat Bandits heating up the arena, but we pulled through.

"Wow. I can't believe we're thet strong now.", I said as I tucked my gun into my pocket and took a swig from my water bottle. I then wiped my forehead as we returned to the benches for a time-out. I then paused for a moment, feeling I did that same thing before. I decided to shrug the thought aside.

KHKHKHKHKH

The 4th seed consisted of three new Heartless. There were three of them. They were shaped like the White Mushrooms but they were black-and-purple.

"Black Fungus.", the Diary said. "Hostile Heartless, unlike White Mushrooms. They attack with poison. Defeating them may bring good things, but it is not easy."

As usual, we charged, but as we attacked them (what else could we do?), we found out that not only were they as resistant as the White Mushrooms, but were agressive like most Heartless. For starters, they kept spewing poison to drive us back. Then, they also were able to render theselves invulnerable for a short while, looking very pale and white, but I was far from fooled from seeing them as White Mushrooms. Eventually, we made it through.

The 3rd seed composed of Pot and Barrel Spiders, five each. It was absolute mayhem, but we defeated them, although we suffered moderate injuries from the explosions.

The 2nd seed pitted us against three Fat Bandits and two Large Bodies.

"Oh, come on!", Yoris complained. "Five Lagre Body Heartless?"

"It's La**rg**e Body Heartess, and three are Fat Bandits.", Goofy corrected.

"It's Heart**l**ess, you big palooka!", Donald said.

"Enough with correcting each other!", Sora stopped the argument. "Let's get this over with!"

He then leaped over the first Fat Bandit and started attacking from behind. As we fought, I saw that except for the Barrel Spider's explosion, no attacks from the Heartless harm each other, and thus ruling out directing fire breaths. We did what we could by running around, attackig any back we could see and as they dwindled, started serving as distractions for one another. Also, thanks to the Fighter Limit phenomenon providing boundaries, we were able to push them to the wall as we also attacked them from the side.

Just before we could proceed to the 1st seed, Phil came over.

"Just a second, junior heroes.", he said. "According to the rules, this fight will be two three-on-two battles. Assign which three you'll be facing off against…these two." He handed over a scroll. "I was told by this tournament's…organizer that these two can't meet with the next two."

"Why not?", Donald asked.

"I don't know either, but I was compelled to follow. We just host the tournament."

"I have a feeling there's something up with these cups.", Gregorio said.

Meanwhile, Sora was looking at the scroll. I turned to see a gunblade and a shuriken depicted in them.

"Donald, Goofy, and I will deal with these.", he said.

"Very well.", Phil said. "The rest of you wait in the lobby."

"Okay.", I said as I, Gregorio, and Yoris did as he said. In the lobby, we saw a couple of strange walls, they all depicted the same orange circle with a book on them. "Now what are these?"

"Who knows.", Yoris said. "Let's just wait here."

"All right."

It took around seven minutes, then we saw Sora, Donald, and Goofy come back. They looked tired and dejected.

"How'd it go?", Yoris asked.

"We lost.", Donald lamented.

"Aww, man.", groaned Gregorio.

"We managed to take down Yuffie, but I was still no match for Leon.", sighed Sora. "It was so close too, but…"

"Phil told us we can still win this cup.", Goofy said. "If you guys beat the next two, victory will be ours."

"Wow.", I said. "That's…merciful."

"Good luck."

Just then, the walls seemed to shift and warp around, but for some reason, probably because of some mental effect they gave out, we didn't think of it as strange. We also saw a couple of figures pass by, but didn't think of them as the walls returned to normal. (3) Phil came over and ushered us to enter. Gregorio, Yoris, and I followed him back to the arena. Upon entering the arena, as the barriers formed, we turned to see who our opponents were and widened our eyes in surprise. Quistis and Zell were our opponents, and they seemed ready for a fight.

"Hello, boys.", Quistis greeted.

"Up for a round?", Zell asked.

"You got it!", Gregorio answered as we entered battle stances. Zell started by rushing forward and doing a slide kick. We jumped out of the way as we turned our attention to Quistis, who was ready to cast a spell. Just as Yoris launched an ice ball, a sphere of water formed around it, then headed for Gregorio, who had proceeded to dodge Zell as he came for him. The water sphere with the ice ball missed and hit the barrier.

The whip-user then lashed out her weapon at Yoris, who dropped his cannon in pain. She was about to stirke again when I launched a fireball at her. She took the hit and then Yoris shot an ice ball at her, which she managed to dodge. That ice ball hit Zell just as he was about to roundhouse-kick Gregorio in the face. The lancer took this chance to swing his javelin at the martil artis over and over. While Quistis had dodged that ice ball, I took the chance to shoot her down.

For some reason, the battle was surprisingly easy. However, I regretted thinking that once they started gaining auras, similar to the ones Cloud and Barret showed (or was it just Barret?). At that point, the whole situation turned around. Just as Gregorio was about to land on Quistis after a leap from the air, a laser beam shot out from her eyes, forcing him back in the air and landing onto he ground with a thud. Meanwhile, Zell was kicking my butt all over the place as I tried to shield myself, having knocked away Yoris earlier. As he pushed my shield out of the way, he grabbed me by the collar, then delivered a solid knee, sending me to the barrier wall.

As he then rushed right for me, I immediately remembered one of my new spells. I cast Stop and stopped he did, his fist an inch in front of my face. Quickly, I moved away, moved to his back, cast Gravity, then ended with Poison. As I ran to Yoris' aid, I narrowly evaded bolts of lightning that came from Quistis, although it didn't look like she was casting Thunder. I then took out a Mega-Potion and took a sip. Suddenly, as I felt a green aura emanate around me, I saw the same thing happen with Yoris and Gregorio, the latter of which was kneeling with one hand on his javelin.

Just as the electric attack stopped, Quistis proceeded with a water wave that sprayed the battlefield wet. As she turned around to strike us, Yoris tried to attack with an ice ball, but it was pushed away to the barrier wall, where it shattered. I thought of the 'ability' I used back at Agrabah and decided to use it. As the surge of water struck Gregorio, I raised my arm and the Power Orb glowed.

Once more, an invisible ceiling crashed on Quistis and she stopped her spell, stunned from the attack. I heard a thud on the ground, and turned around to see Zell, KO'd an inch behind me. Apparently, he had recovered from stop and was about to attack me until I performed my ability. Yoris took the chance and fired an ice ball at Quistis, doing her in. The moment she fell, so did confetti as the water disappeared.

"All right! We did it!", I cried out as I aimed my DirLuxGun into the sky.

KHKHKHKHKH

"While you obviously lost, I'll have to say you really didn't let that Leon guy win easy.", Phil remarked.

"Gee, thanks.", groaned Sora.

"Here's your reward.", Hercules said as he handed me four Power orbs. One was yellow and depicted a yo-yo. The three were green and depicted a yellow sphere, a blue sphere, and a white feather.

"Thanks, Hercules.", I said.

"Just call me Herc."

"U-uh, all right then, …Herc."

"Let's see.", Donald said as he took out a scroll Merlin gave him back at Traverse Town "The one with the yellow orb casts Protect, which reduces damage from physical attacks. The one with the blue orb casts Shell, which is like Protect, but for magic attacks. The one with the white feather casts Dispel, which is supposed to remove 'positive status effects'. As for the yellow one…I'm afraid you'll have to figure it out by using it."

"Gee thanks, Donald.", I said as I pocketed the Power Orbs..

"Is strength the most important part of a hero?", Sora asked Phil.

"Well, what you really need is a strong heart.", the hero trainer answered. "What makes a strong heart? If you have to ask, you're not a hero yet!"

"Stop talking in riddles!"

"It's not a riddle!"

Gummi Ship Time: Forgot Something!

Later, we were saiing the stars again. Just before leaving, we managed to catch up with Quistis and Zell before they boarded one of the Gummi Ships The other one was already gone. I asked why the fight was so easy. We were merely answered with "We just went easy on you." I merely grumbled as we took off in separate directions.

I was now seated at the cockpit. As usual, the commmunications system was on. Sora was fiddling with the three summon stones he got so far, shifting them between his hands as he sat quietly in his seat. Donald was on the controls this time. Just then, I realized something.

"Oh crap!", I cried out. Everybody reacted and turned to me. "We forgot to try and bring our friends' groups together!" Everybody groaned from that.

"We'll just have to remember it the next time we get back to Traverse Town.", Goofy told me.

"Oh, all right.", I said as I dozed off.

-While 'I' wasn't there, Sora told Jiminy and recorded the following five entries, and 'my' Diary updated accordingly.-

**Pooh**

_A little bear living in the Hundred Acre Wood. His favorite food is honey. Being a Bear of Very Little Brain, he's a bit absent-minded. Sometimes he even forgets what it was he was trying to remember._

_He warmed up the screen in "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966)._

**Piglet**

_Pooh's best friend in the Hundred Acre Wood. Tiny, timid Piglet is startled by just about anything. When that happens, he covers his eyes with his floppy ears._

_He appeared on a "windsday" in "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" (1968)._

**Rabbit**

_Rabbit is an earnest, hardworking member of the Hundred Acre Wood community. He keeps to himself, but lends a hand when others need him. He's not always comfortable around the exuberant Tigger._

_He appeared in "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966)._

**Tigger**

_Tigger loves to bounce more than anything. Sometimes his bouncing gets out of hand, but he doesn't mean any harm. Beneath that happy-go-lucky exterior beats a sensitive, gentle heart._

_He bounced onto the scene in "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" (1968)._

**Owl**

_The wisest resident of the Hundred Acre Wood. Whenever anyone has a question he can't answer, he asks the Owl... though Owl isn't always right! Owl likes to talk, but sometimes he puts his listeners to sleep._

_He showed us the wisdom of his ways in "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966)._

**Dumbo**

_A baby circus elephant. He was taunted because of his huge ears, but his talent for flying made him the star of the circus._

_He first flew onto the screen in "Dumbo" (1941)._

**Bambi**

_A young deer, son of the great stag who rules the Great Forest._

_The forest prince was born in "Bambi" (1942)._

**XR**

_Short for "experimental ranger". He was once an ordinary learning robot, but after being destroyed and then rebuilt, he has developed flaws that rendered him with a personality._

_He first reported for duty in "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command" (2000)._

**Pinocchio -updated-**

_Crafted by Geppetto and brought to life by the Blue Fairy. He'd have lost his heart to the Heartless if Jiminy hadn't come to the rescue. Now he's living in Traverse Town with Geppetto and working hard to become a real boy._

_There were no strings to hold him down in "Pinocchio" (1940)._

**Geppetto -updated-**

_The kind, gentle clock maker. Rael and friends helped him escape from Monstro's belly and took him and his son to Traverse Town, where he looks forward to the day Pinocchio becomes a real boy._

_He provided shelter in "Pinocchio" (1940)._

(1) Well, how could one expect a raft to work in outer space, even if it's made of Gummi Blocks? Sure, _Birth By Sleep _calls them the Lanes Between, but then they'll be exposed to darkness instead of lack of air. While I may have said this not before, I decided to point it out again.

(2) Just so it won't retcon too much, they'll lose all these good weapons somehow come "Kingdom Hearts Remake: Chain of Memories: Retcon Version".

(3) Yup. The Story Crew is making such large ridiculous measures just to prevent Leon from seeing his old friends. The walls also have a strange effect that make those who see them or what they 'do' as not strange, kind of like what TV Tropes calls a "Wierdness Censor".

(4) Yes, those were the Limit Breaks Zell and Quistis possessed. Quitis first used Laser Eye on Gregorio, then Zell used Booya on 'me' (as well as other various attacks), and Quistis (again) used Electrocute all over the field, and Aqua Breath afterward.

-See ya on Third!-


	14. Chapter 11: Atlantica

nightelf37: Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there (or the manga), or even the movie where the current world is based on, I 'own' it. And here is 'my' current Power Orb inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Cure, Esuna, Stop, Regen, Silence, Charm, Confuse, Protect, Shell

(skills) Shield Boomer, Aura Wave, Yoyo Shot

(summons) None (they wouldn't exactly work in the next world)

In storage:

(spells) Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Aero, Gravity, Poison, Dispel

(skills) Sky Dropper, Boomer Blast

(summons) Baloo, Bahamut (with Merlin), XR

Chapter 11: Atlantica

Part I. An Underwater Landing

When I woke up, I saw the comms system still on. In the Excalibur, Goofy and Dale were messing around with Sora's newest keychain, while Donald and Chip discussed the designs Geppetto drew up. Jiminy was writing into his journal, and Sora was just waking up. Just then my stomach rumbled, I got up from my seat, and made my way to the lift. Yoris noticed me go, but didn't say anything.

I came back with a lot of food. As it turned out, the Destiny was well stocked and had something that seemed to regenerate whatever I took out. As Gregorio pushed some buttons and connected both our ships. As we ate, we saw Sora and co. eat as well. After around five minutes, we were finished with our meal as we seemed to reach a new world. We got up to our feet and Gregorio went to the controls to detach the Destiny from the Excalibur. He then veered it to it would be next to Sora's.

We were staring out the window at another new globe, an orb of pristine blue water. Its surface was dotted with strips of craggy rock. There was a mysterious glimmer on its surface, as if there was a great mystery sheltered in it.

"What's this place?", Sora breathed, pressing his palms to the glass window.

Goofy peered at a little screen. "A… At… lan…"

Donald rolled his eyes impatiently. "Atlantica."

"Ahyuk! Yup! What he said!"

"Hmm…we'll probably see more of the Search Ghosts we fought at Monstro there.", I said.

"What makes you say that?", Yoris asked.

"The Diary said so."

In the Excalibur, Donald said, "Okay, guys." He pressed several buttons on the dashboard. "Prepare for landing."

Chip and Dale saluted the pilot and quickly scrambled back to their usual posts in the engine room. Sora's head snapped around in alarm, his blue eyes wide.

"Land where? In the sea?"

Both Donald and Goofy gave Sora a funny look and nodded in response. Then the duck turned back, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"W-We'll drown!"

"Not with my magic, we won't.", Donald said with a wry grin. When Sora still looked confused, Donald winked at him playfully. "Just leave it to me."

Goofy grinned excitedly and they started to head to the ladder. "C'mon, Sora!"

Sora nodded his head dumbly before following. Gregorio turned off the comms system and said, "Well, we should follow too."

"We can't go down in the water.", I said as the Excalibur descended into the world. "Not unless we somehow assume forms that can survive there."

"You know, as it turns out, the Transwarp Room has something for that purpose."

The three of us made our way to the Transwarp Room. When we reached it, Yoris and I hopped onto our platforms, Gregorio made his way to a compartment and took out a few stuff. They were two capsules (the medical sort) and one astronaut-like scuba suit. It seemed to remind me of one particular character who lived deep in the sea, yet was from the land. (1)

"Put this on.", said Gregorio.

"Why?"

"We saw your…unathletic build back at Agrabah, so I thought I'd hand you this." I grudgingly took the suit and started to put it on. "No need for that." Gregorio went onto his platform. "That will automatically be put on you once we make it there. Just hold on to it and you'll be okay." Gregorio handed a capsule to Yoris and they both gulped them. "Here we go."

Gregorio pushed the button on the teleporter and we were sent down to the world.

KHKHKHKHKH

When the light dissipated, the first thing I did was check my surrroundings. We seemed to be in a particular spot under the sea. We were in an cave with smooth walls. In the center of it was another large rock bed, on top of which lay a large white clam. Light filtered through the waters and cast distorted lines across the sea floor. I also saw a school of angelfish swim away, probably in shock from our sudden arrival.

When I realized we were in the water, I immediately held my breath, then accidentally breathed through my nose, only to realize I wasn't gulping water but breathing air. I turned to see Sora do the same thing, then saw that he was without clothes. I then saw that in place of his legs was a tail, but it wasn't that of a fish, which I expected from merpeople. Instead, his tail was that of a dolphin's. I looked at myself and I saw that I now wore that suit Gregorio gave me. It felt bulky as I landed on the ocean floor. I then looked around for the rest of my companions and saw they had changed too.

Donald no longer had clothes either, but in place of his lower body were blue-and-yellow octopus tentacles, although he only had six instead of eight. He had become a cecaelia. Goofy looked like a true sea turtle, but his head still looked the same. Gregorio was now a merman like Sora, but his fish tail was grey, and had spikes just below his waist. 'Pufferfish' came into my mind for some reason. Yoris had a red fish tail and below his waist were parts of what looked like red coral with blue holes. Both of them also had their beanies off.

Sora grinned as he flipped his new fins. "I… I'm a merman!", he said, then realized he could talk and breathe underwater. Just like the merpeople he knew from all those kid's stories! "I'm really a merman!"

"Of course you are!", Donald sounded both indignant and smug. "I told you there's nothing to worry about, not with my magic around!" He then turned to me, pulled out his wand, which appeared in a glimmer, somewhat like Sora's Keyblade, and cast a spell on me. "Now you're under the same spell as Goofy and me. No world-natives are gonna see you as we see you."

"Thanks, Donald.", I said as the duck 'put away' his wand.

Sora's wide grin got even bigger as he spun himself around in the water to look at his friends. I looked around as well and had to stifle a laugh at the sight of them. Donald had his arms folded stubbornly over his chest as he drifted headfirst toward the sea floor, not making and effort into learning how to use his new tentacles to swim. Goofy seemed to be dog-paddling through the water, which wasn't quite as effective with his turtle flippers. Gregorio and Yoris just struggled to keep upright like Sora.

"This is great!", Sora exclaimed, trying to do a back flip in the water and failing. "I've always wanted to know what living under the sea would be like!"

"A-hyuck! Well, now ya know, Sora!", Goofy spun himself around in the water. "Fun, ain't it?"

Donald rolled his eyes at their excitement. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Sora laughed and whooped happily as he pulled himself through the water and flipped his fins again, which sent him coasting across the grotto, and bumping into the rock. He grimaced, rubbing where it hurt, and pushed off of the rock.

"I guess I need some practice.", he murmured.

Goofy laughed carelessly. "Then let's get practicin', Sora!"

"Yeah!"

The two then set off for a somewhat awkward looking lap around the cave. Donald shook his head at them. "Oh, brother." Gregorio and Yoris continued to struggle to keep upright.

"Were those pills for transforming you?", I asked Gregorio.

"Yes. They stop being in effect once we end up breathing air again."

"Come on, Sebastian!", I heard a voice as I turned to one of the ways out of the area.

"Ariel, wait!", another voice wailed in a heavy accent. "Slow down! Don' leave me behind!"

Everyone else turned to the source of the voices, and three new faces suddenly turned into the cave. The person who seemed to be leading them was a teenage mermaid. She had a long green fish tail and fins, a purple 'scallop top', and long, fiery red hair that flowed down her back and danced on her shoulders, shifting with the currents. As soon as she caught sight of us, she came to a stop. She widened her blue eyes as she looked at us, seemingly afraid at first, but curiosity quickly replaced the fear as she quirked her lips.

One of her companions, a small, red crab, didn't seem to notice that the mermaid had stopped. He pulled himself forward, swinging his arms wildly through the water and panting from exhaustion. He came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the water, finding himself face to face with an upside-down Donald. For a moment he was silent, Donald narrowing his eyes in annoyance, and then suddenly let out an alarmed wail and backed away.

He looked around in a panic and, upon sighting his mermaid companion, swam to her. She gave the crab an odd look, raising an eyebrow at him. She had already found herself cradling her third companion, a chubby yellow and blue fish. Yoris identified it to be a "convict tang", whatever that was.

"Relax, Sebastian.", she said to the crab, a light giggle in her voice. "They don't look like one of them."

Sora was grabbing onto a long strip of seaweed to stop himself from crashing into the strangers. He then reached over to Donald and turned him right-side up again while Goofy swam up to rejoin us. Gregorio and Yoris somehow made it down to the bed rock and sat on it. The mermaid smiled brightly and turned to the chubby fish in her arms.

"Right, Flounder?"

The fish named Flounder stopped shaking at last, but continued to give us a wary look. "I don't know.", he said slowly. "There's something weird about them."

Donald and Sora tensed suddenly and exchanged worried looks. Was the censor that disguised Donald and Goofy not working? Sora quickly turned back to the mermaid. He laughed, trying in vain to sound relaxed.

"Uh… What do you mean?"

He suddenly found himself sinking through the water slightly and gave a small kick of his tail to get back to eye-level with the mermaid. The situation was turning awkward, and none of us were being helpful. I was still wondering how they saw me, as I knew I definitely didn't look like any denizen of the sea.

The mermaid put one finger to her lips as she once again looked Sora over, then moved swiftly through the water toward him. Her friends did the same for the rest of us. Flounder swam toward Goofy, trying to look intimidating, but the captain of the guard just grinned lazily. Sebastian approached Donald, and the two locked themselves into a glaring contest. They then proceeded to swim around Yoris and Gregorio, who just sat there.

"They do seem…a little different.", said the mermaid, who I presumed was named Ariel.

"Guess you never seen a dolphin-tailed merman, huh?", I found myself saying.

Ariel turned to look at me, and I froze in nervousness. Did she know I wasn't really a sea creature? What did I look like to her? Is the 'censoring' spell on Donald and Goofy really working on me as well? She then turned back to Sora and addressed him. "Where are you from?"

"Uhh…" He searched frantically for an answer. "We're from… kinda… far away." Ariel then looked at the way Sora kicked his tail, as if that wasn't how merpeople were supposed to swim. "And… we're not really used to these waters." He laughed nervously again. The mermaid smiled, putting one finger to her lips again as she thought.

"Oh, I see.", she said kindly. "In that case… Sebastian can show you how we swim around here."

The crab immediately broke away from Donald, letting out a squeak of shock as he turned to look at the mermaid. "Ariel, King Triton will not like this!"

Ariel rolled her eyes at Sebastian's scolding, shut her eyes and sighed, shaking her head.

"Oh, don't worry.", she assured him.

Sebastian snorted indignantly and turned away, grumbling under his breath. "Easy for you to say…"

"Is it just me or is Sebastian acting like Ariel's conscience?", Gregorio muttered under his breath.

The mermaid heaved another sigh and then turned to us. "So what are your names?"

"Oh, I'm…" Sora gave another self-conscious kick to stay eye-level with Ariel. "I'm Sora. And these are my friends, Donald, Goofy, Yoris, Gregorio, and Rael." He gestured to each of us as he said our names, and we greeted the young mermaid accordingly.

Ariel giggled softly. "Well, it's nice to meet you all! My name's Ariel. This is my best friend Flounder, and that's…" She threw the small red crab one last annoyed look. "…Sebastian."

Sebastian frowned, but remained silent. He then looked over and scrutinized us from top to bottom. He looked thoughtful for a moment, rubbing his chin with one claw. Then, with an exasperated sigh/groan, he swam over to us.

"Okay, it's time you learn to swim properly." He glanced at Flounder and gestured for him to come closer. "Practice swimming with Flounder. Try to tag him."

The chubby fish smiled and wiggled his tail playfully. Sora grinned, his hands balling excitedly into fists as he looked over at his friends. Goofy laughed softly while Donald shook his head and rolled his eyes at the childish behavior. Gregorio and Yoris sturrgled to use their tails to get to Sora's location.

"All right.", said Sebastian, raising his voice. "Begin."

Flounder sprang to life, darting away from Sora and the others. Sora and Goofy gave chase excitedly, leaving the rest behind for a moment as Donald once again rolled his eyes. Soon enough, all five of them were swimming around the cave, playing a game of tag with Flounder. Ariel eventually joined in, commenting on occasion on an error Sora, Gregorio, or Yoris seemed to be doing. It wasn't long before they had all gotten the hang of their new underwater limbs and were perfectly capable of keeping up with the mermaid and her friends.

As for me, when I tried walking I saw that, much to my surprise, I was moving faster than I thought I would. I wasn't sluggish, but almost as fast as if I were on land, with no water to push against. There were also jets of some kind that activated whenever I willed them to, like when I jumped, which helped me move around. Everyone stopped to look on occasion as I tried out my suit, and I felt nervous whenever they did.

Sebastian seemed pleased with the improvement of the rest, nodding his head as he watched. "Good job. Now let's move on—"

He raised a claw in a movement to call them to a stop, but no one noticed, save for me. Everyone else was far too distracted with playing and messing around. I groaned and turned one of my jets to them, blowing water at their faces. They stopped to face me as I thumbed to Sebastian.

"Thank you very much, Rael.", the crab said.

"No problem."

The crab glared at the rest, waiting impatiently with his claws folded over his chest. Ariel gave Sebastian an 'apologetic' look. "Sorry, Sebastian.", she said.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. He then cleared his throat. "Now den. Let's move on to self defense—"

But before Sebastian could finish, Ariel and Flounder's eyes widened.

"Sebastian!"

Ariel pointed at what she'd spotted, and we all spun around to see. A small group of strange monsters were gliding through the water, heading straight into the grotto. Their bodies were akin to jellyfish; they had spindly looking legs that looked like yellow flippers protruding from a transparent sphere that seemed to serve as the head. Between the two glowing eyes was the Heartless emblem.

The Key bearer clenched his teeth, his hands balling into fists. "Not again!"

We all immediately rose to the challenge. Ariel and Flounder swam off in the opposite direction, Sebastian just behind them.

"Class is over.", he cried. "Good luck!"

The mermaid swam into a separate tunnel while Flounder and Sebastian ducked into the safety of the large white clam. Once they were all effectively hidden from the incoming Heartless, Sora turned to us with a determined nod.

"Let's go, guys!"

"Way ahead of you!", I said as we summoned our weapons. Goofy had his shield on his right flipper, so I didn't know how exactly he would be able to fight. The Heartless slowed slightly upon finding us in their way. They stopped for a second, then charged. All of the Heartless extended their spindly legs out, reared back, and then spun around wildly, propelling themselves forward and attacking at the same time. We all swam out of the way in an easy dodge, and then swung their weapons down onto the heads of the Heartless.

"Sea Neon.", the Diary said inside my suit as I brought up my shield against one of them. "Heartless resembling jellyfish. They swim fast, and attack in numbers. Overall, they are not tough opponents."

Despite the rather large number of enemies that came forward, they were easily taken care of by my companions. However, they seemed to swarm around me as I was the least mobile among them. I then remembered one of my Power Orbs and used them. Suddenly, a barrier quickly expanded around me, repelling the Heartless as they were obliterated by my comrades. Once the last one was defeated, Sora and the others turned to one another, exchanging eager high fives.

"That was amazing!"

We all turned to Ariel as she swam up. She laughed carelessly, throwing her arms around Sora's neck in a hug and sending them both twirling through the water. She then pulled away from Sora and gave the rest of us similar treatment. I felt nervous once more as she did so to me.

"How did you defeat those creatures?", she asked us in astonishment. "All we could do was swim for it when they came out, right, Flou—" She blinked in confusion when she failed to find her best friend at her side. "Flounder?"

"Ariel!", came a muffled voice. "Help!"

We all turned to the white clam and Ariel swam right up to it, putting an ear to its surface.

"Flounder? What are you doing in there?"

"We were hiding from those creatures, and—"

"And now we're stuck!", announced Sebastian's voice indignantly.

"Heeeelp!", Flounder wailed.

"Get us outta here!"

Still smiling, Ariel slid her fingers into the small space under the clam's lid, repositioned herself above it to get a better grip, and pulled with all of her might. Everyone above me moved to help her, but stumbled over Goofy. This sent all five of them tumbling forward in the water, their still drawn weapons flailing. Ariel gave out a shout of alarm and sprang back as they came closer. Gregorio's javelin struck the white clam, which popped open. Flounder and Sebastian swam out into freedom, gasping and wheezing from lack of oxygen.

Ariel smiled helplessly as Flounder hurried to her side. "Oh, Flounder. You're such a guppy."

"I am not."

My friends recovered from their awkward fall through the water and quickly put their weapons away. Sora blushed slightly, scratching the back of his head.

"That was kinda embarrassing.", he murmured. His friends nodded in agreement.

"But, uh, what're the Heartless doin' here?", Goofy wanted to know.

"I don't know.", admitted Sora, keeping his voice low. "But I guess we'd better check it out, huh?"

They all nodded again and we turned back to face Ariel and the others, the former and Flounder both being scolded by Sebastian. However, Ariel didn't seem to be listening was took interest in what my friends were saying to one another.

"Do you three know what those creatures are?", she asked, looking wide-eyed at us.

"Uhh…" Sora shot a quick glance in the direction of his friends for help. Gregorio spoke up.

"We've seen them before back home.", he said. "But we don't really know what they are."

"Those creatures chased us here.", she told us.

The Key Bearer nodded his head slowly. Donald gave him a meaningful look, also nodding. He then gestured for us to continue on our way and tugged on one of Goofy's fins. Gregorio and Yoris swam inbetween me, but before we could turn to say goodbye to Ariel and the others, Sebastian let out a squeak of alarm and clapped his claws over his head.

"Oh, no!", he wailed, his eyes widening. "D'oze monsters might be heading for da palace, too!"

Ariel gasped, turning back around to face Sebastian and Flounder. "We'd better head back right away!"

"But-wh-what if we run into more on our way back?", Flounder raised a fin, his body trembling.

The young mermaid looked thoughtful for a moment, then then lighted up as she looked over at us. "I'm sorry, but we need your help.", she said. "Please come to the palace with us."

"Palace?", I asked.

"Don't worry!", Ariel went on quickly. "It'll be fine! We can show you the way there!"

We looked at one another helplessly, shrugged, and turned back to Ariel and the others with a firm, solid nod of agreement. A brilliant smile spread across Ariel's face. Flounder and Sebastian merely looked relieved. Ariel flashed an eager grin at her companions, but only Flounder returned it.

"Okay, let's get going.", she told us.

KHKHKHKHKH

The underwater world was practically boundless on all sides. There were no walls; only an endless blue space and since gravity was irrelevant, there was nothing we couldn't reach. Jutting out of the sea floor were large, layered chunks of rock. Some seemed to have deep tunnels carved into them, winding into countless caverns and passageways. A large variety of colorful underwater flora grew in what seemed like the most impossible places. Large patches of coral dotted the landscape and I could even see a few anemone. Sunlight filtered through the water from above, casting strange and beautiful reflections of light across the ocean floor.

However, in place of the usual fish and other underwter fauna were the sheer number of Heartless around. Without the restriction of gravity, the enemy was free to attack from any angle, from the sides, above, below… Fighting them off while following and protecting Ariel, Sebastian, and Flounder all at once was no easy task.

We considered a formation where Yoris was above, Sora at front, Donald at the left, Goofy at the right, Gregorio at the rear, and me below, covering Ariel and company as they led us to the palace, but it wasn't working much. The Heartless took on forms similar to those of fish. Some looked like jellyfish, others like enlarged versions of blowfish, and still others looked just like Soldiers, except they were equipped with green underwater gear and wielded harpoons. We also saw Search Ghosts among them.

"So that's where…", I muttered as I shot down one of them.

"Sheltering Zone.", the Diary said, concerning the bigger versions of the Sea Neons. "Heartless resembling a jellyfish. You receive damage just from colliding with it. They move slow, but break up into many Sea Neons if struck. They fling their tentacles away to keep their enemies away." It then indicated the 'green Soldiers'. "Screwdiver. "Heartless that acts with Aquatank. Unpredictable creatures, dashing forward one minute, cowardly retreating the next. They are invigorated by the sparks from Aquatank." It then indicated the blowfish-like Heartless. "Aquatank. Heartless resembling a fish that calmly swim the seas. They are often carrying Screwdivers. Leisurely large creatures that do not attack unless provoked."

"They're worse than ever!", Sora said to his friends, just moments after he'd cut down a Screwdiver.

"Yeah.", agreed Yoris warily as he shot a row of Sea Neons and a Sheltering Zone with an ice ball.

"Gawrsh, it's almost like they can't wait to get rid of us.", Goofy said as she spun around, keeping the Sea Neons away.

Gregorio frowned as he skewered an Aquatank, watching as it erupted into smoky black bubbles. "I think you're right…"

"Makes sense.", Donald pitched in as he froze up a Screwdiver which crashed into a wall and shattered.

_Maybe sealing the Keyholes is making them mad._, I thought. _However, I can't help but think Maleficent and Xin are somehow behind this._

"This way!", Ariel called, pointing down an underground tunnel near her. "Come on!"

We nodded and swam over. As both Ariel and Flounder entered the tunnel ahead, Sebastian gave the young mermaid a puzzled look.

"But Ariel.", he called after her, grabbing onto one of Goofy's fins as he passed, "This isn't—"

"It's a shortcut.", the redhead said, a mischievous smile on her face.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at her, obviously worried. "Ariel, what are you—" He abruptly cut himself off with a gasp. "Jumpin' jellyfish!"

We all save for Ariel and Flounder came to an abrupt stop as we found themselves face to face with a wall of fast-moving, swirling bubbles. Sora frowned, confused.

"Uh… Ariel?", he asked, turning toward his mermaid companion. "How're we supposed to get through here?"

"Simple!", she replied as Sora and I approached what was obviously a strong current. Ariel scooped Flounder and Sebastian up into her arms, smiling. "Just follow me!"

Then, before anyone could react, she swam forward, entering the swirling vortex of water despite Sebastian's frantic protests. We all watched in shock as they watched Ariel get swept away, whooping as she vanished out of sight. Sora was the first to snap out and move forward. With one hand gripping the wall of rock, he poked his head into the swirling water and tried to search for Ariel amidst the mass of bubbles.

"**Ariel!**", he shouted as loudly as he could. But the force of the current muffled out all sound. We could hear nothing but the roar of rushing water.

Donald grabbed onto Sora's arm and gave it a strong, insistent tug. Sora then tried to readjust his hold on the rock to pull himself back out of the vortex. But in all of a sudden, Sora was swept away, dragging all of us along with him. We tumbled head over tail down the narrow tunnel and as I rolled in the current, I reached out for something, anything to grab onto.

Suddenly, I ended up grabbing Sora's arm as he managed to hook his fingers into a crack in the wall. He came to an abrupt, violent stop as he struggled to keep himself and me from being swept away. However, the strong current wrenched him away and we resumed hurtling down the tunnel.

Then something grabbed me by the arm and abruptly pulled me to one side. It also grabbed Sora as we hurtled uncontrollably into a patch of seaweed and moss growing on the stone wall. The force of the current and the roaring in my ears diminished and everything suddenly seemed very quiet. For a moment, I thought the sound system in my suit was out of whack, but then I heard a couple of voices as Sora and I slid down the curved stone.

"Gawrsh, guys! Are you okay?"

"Wh-What…?"

Gregorio, Yoris, Ariel, and Donald were pulling us upright and untangling seaweed wrapped around our bodies. Flounder, Sebastian, and Goofy held us steady.

"You okay?", asked Flounder. "That looked pretty bad."

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, but… what just happened?", I asked.

"Ariel pulled us out of the current.", Donald explained. "But it looked like she pulled you guys a little too hard."

"Sorry, guys.", Ariel said, smiling sheepishly. "I didn't mean to, you're just a lot lighter than I thought you'd be."

"That's okay.", Sora said, freeing himself from the tangle of seaweed. "I had no idea how I was gonna get outta there, so…thanks!"

The mermaid smiled warmly. "Well then, you're welcome."

"Now dat dat's over with, we'd better get a move on!", Sebastian pitched in. "D'oze monsters could reach da palace any minute now! We need to hurry!"

Ariel suddenly became serious and nodded in agreement. She then gestured for us to follow and kicked off, her and Flounder in the lead. We eventually emerged in a larger cave that appeared to be closed off on all sides. The only other way out was above, but as soon as we swam to the large, gaping hole, more Heartless appeared. Ariel halted immediately and backed up, hurrying to cover Flounder and Sebastian. We once again swam into the fray despite our exhaustion, weapons flashing.

"Go on ahead and take cover, Ariel!", I called as I landed on the rock around the hole and shot at the Heartless. "We'll take care of these guys!"

The mermaid nodded and swam slightly ahead, carefully picking her way through the 'battlefield' with Flounder and Sebastian in her arms. She floated on the other side of the hole, glancing about the valley she'd emerged in for signs of more monsters. Finally, after I shook off a few Sea Neons with another Aura Wave, which I had used earlier during our first fight in Atlantica, we joined Ariel, and Gregorio suddenly stuffed his hand into something in my suit, pulling out an Ether bottle.

"How'd you get that?", I asked.

"The suit has a 'portal ring' leading to your bag, just like how Jiminy got there. It keeps out water, so you don't have to worry about getting the inside wet."

"Won't the liquid be diluted by the water?"

"Don't worry.", Donald said as he took the bottle from Gregorio and drank the Ether, also sharing it with Sora, then whispered. "The concoction doesn't dilute. How that's possible is a trade secret."

"How will I even drink anyway?", I asked, indicating the 'bubble' around my head.

Gregorio took out a Potion bottle, and put it inside somewhere in my suit. I then felt my energy return.

"Okay. Could you please tell me how to work it?"

"Another time. We gotta follow Ariel."

As she, Flounder, and Sebastian led the way over a large undersea valley to the palace, we were constantly bombarded by Heartless attacks on all sides and had to swim fast to get away since we were getting tired.

_Why is Atlantica was under such an intense infestation?_, I thought. _Even though the Heartless were probably getting angry, the unrelenting attacks are unusual without a doubt._

We were led down another tunnel on the opposite side of the valley, which we swam through, and when we emerged on the other end, I had to stop and gape at the sight of the palace in the distnce. It was a series of tall, golden towers, stretching high up to the surface as they gleamed under the filtered sunlight. The entire palace shone, a bright beacon of golden light.

We continued forward, little time to dawdle about. More Heartless appeared in this new area. While we fought off as many of the Heartless as we could, Sebastian was in an all-out panic. The crab hurried us onward once the area was more or less clear. After shaking off another swarm of Sea Neons off me, both he and Ariel led the way up a long stretch of white stone serving as a pathway leading to the palace.

"Uhh, Sebastian?", I asked as I ran along the path. "Why is there a paved path underwater? I mean, I am grateful for it, but merpeople obviously don't walk along it."

"You know, I've always wondered the same thing.", Ariel replied.

Suddenly, Sebastian let out another cry as we entered the palace: more Heartless.

"Dey're everywhere!", he wailed, clamping onto Ariel's tail fin as she swam away.

"Yeah…", I agreed as Sea Neons surrounded me once again.

"Quick, this way!"

Ariel turned sharply down into a long passageway lined on both sides with tall, blue-green pillars. After repelling them once again with an Aura Wave, we followed her example as she tried to outmaneuver the Heartless. As I managed to jet out of the way, there was a sudden flash of lightning, streaking right past us before destroying all of the Heartless with a bang. We all immediately came to a halt, turning around fully to stare, awestruck at where the horde of Heartless once were.

"That was too close.", a voice thundered from behind.

We all turned around to face the speaker, Ariel with a broad smile on her face. Apparently, we had wound up in the palace's throne room. It was a large, circular room closed off by the same sorts of columns in the hallway. In the very center, the floor gracefully swooped up and blossomed open like a flower, its surface ridged like a clam. From the middle, supported by a stone beam, was an throne, which resembled an open oyster, with a high back fanning outward that looked like a sand dollar. On either side of the seat were two more columns, shaped like a large vase open at the top, allowing jets of bubbles and soft blue light to issue out from it. Protruding from the top of the throne was a spike that resembled a crown.

Seated in this throne was a large, burly merman with long, flowing hair and an equally long beard. Despite his old age, he still looked rather muscular. Large, gold bracers were clasped around his strong forearms, and his firm hands tightly held onto a golden trident. The man's eyes were stern and fierce, set into a glare as they focused on the spot where the Heartless used to be. Atop the merman's head was a large golden crown.

Ariel swam over to him, beckoning us to follow. We obeyed hesitantly as we approached, me especially.

"As long as I have my trident, I will not tolerate those creatures inside this palace.", " he roared.

The merman tightened his hold on his weapon for a moment, then loosened it again, placing it into a holding spot next to his throne, then slowly turned his eyes to Ariel.

"Daddy!", she cried, moving even closer to him.

"Ariel's father?", Yoris muttered as he and Gregorio flanked me as I stood below Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"Oh, Ariel!", he said, his tone of voice scolding and heavy with exasperation. She flinched and bit down on her lip. "When will you listen? It's dangerous out there!"

Ariel drew in a breath and gave a small, careless shrug. Understandably, her father grew still more upset.

"Strange creatures lurk outside.", he scolded.

The merman's intense, penetrating glare suddenly turned on us. Clearly, he grouped us with the Heartless in his statement. We were obviously outsiders, but similar to the Heartless we were not. After all, who wouldn't be peeved when you're associated with something you've been fighting all this time? Sebastian, having apparently moved forward so that he was standing on one of the throne's arms, cleared his throat importantly.

"Behold!", he announced, turning to us and gesturing to the man in the throne. "You swim before da ruler of da seas! His Majesty, King Triton!"

King Triton dropped the glare and was eyeing us suspiciously as I decided to bow. After a moment, he turned to the small red crab. "And who are they?"

"They helped us fight off those creatures.", Ariel explained.

The king glanced at his daugher, then returned to giving us a suspicious look. "They don't look familiar."

Sora looked at Donald before speaking up. "We're from an ocean…very far away."

"I suppose **he** is with you as well?" He pointed at me, and I began to sweat profusely, shaking in my boots, and taking short breaths.

"Yeah.", Yoris spoke up. "He's a strange creature we recently befriended before coming here. We don't know much about him, but…we trust him."

"Care to explain yourself?", King Triton asked sternly. I was unable to answer as I felt like there was something in my throat. I fell over shortly after, but I didn't faint.

"Excuse our friend here, your Majesty.", Gregorio apologized. "Apparently, he gets a nervous breakdown around powerful figures like yourself."

"I see. Care to state your business?"

I managed to get up and saw Goofy chuckle merrily. "Yup!", he said as he swam around Sora and Donald in a circle. "We came to find the K—" All of a sudden, he found himself speechless and gasped, although he couldn't even do so. I had cast Silence on him before he could give away our mission. Everyone turned to him curiously, as if waiting for him to say what he was about to say. Soon, the Silence wore off and he continued, "We're looking for the Keyhole."

We all turned sharply to look at him, eyes wide in horror, althought mine was in anger as he apparently didn't get what I was trying to tell him when I Silenced him.

"The what?", King Triton demanded, like 'Keyhole' was a forbidden word.

Ariel exchanged an excited look with Flounder before turning to Goofy, who made wide, lazy circles around us. "What's that?", she asked.

"W-w-what he meant was k-k-keyholes found in treasure chests in sunken ships.", Yoris nervously explained, then turned to Gregorio. "R-right?" King Triton just stared at the cannoneer, obviously not believing a single word.

"Right.", Gregorio agreed, making up a cover story. "We're after parts of some great artifact. We're told that they can be found behind keyholes in chests all over the ocean."

King Triton just continued glaring at us, Goofy withdrawing into his shell.

"Daddy? May I—", Ariel tried to speak up in an attempt to break the tension. She was answered by a hard stare and a growl only a strict father could make.

"Ariel, not another word! You are not to leave the palace! Is that clear?"

Sebastian clasped his claws over his mouth as Ariel glared up at her father, tightly pressing her lips together. She then whirled around, swimming away from the throne room. Flounder threw a nervous look at the king before following her.

"Uhh, we shall take our leave then, Your Majesty.", Gregorio said, slightly afraid as he motioned for me and Yoris to go. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were already after Ariel and we followed.

As we left, I suddenly entered 'vision mode' again. This time, it took me back to King Triton's throne room, where he maintained his angry face. Sebastian was still positioned on one of the arms of his throne. After a long while, the king slowly shook his head and his expression changed into one of worry and distress. He slumped in his throne, propping his head up with one hand and sighing heavily.

"Perhaps I'm being too strict.", he murmured, glancing at his faithful crab retainer. "I'm just concerned for her safety."

He glanced back up and managed to catch one last, fleeting glimpse of us as we disappeared around the corner. It felt wierd watching myself leave. Sebastian then folded his claws in front of him and nodded his head.

"Of course, your Majesty." Then he also looked toward where we disappeared.

"Have you anything to report?", King Triton asked.

The crab nodded once again. "Just as you suspected, your Majesty, dey seem to be coming from Ursula's grotto."

"I knew it!", Triton boomed, slamming one fist down on the throne. "That sea witch is up to no good again! I see exile from the palace has taught her nothing." He then leaned back, stroking his beard.

"Yes.", Sebastian agreed urgently. "She poses serious danger."

The king's eyes turned to him in an accusing look. "And I told you to keep Ariel away from such danger, did I not?"

Sebastian backed away awkwardly, laughing nervously. "Your Majesty.", he sputtered. "Please, I, uh…"

Triton leaned back into the throne with a tired sigh and dismissed Sebastian from the throne room, ordering him to resume his assigned job of supervising Ariel…and her new friends.

Part II. The Crystal Trident

"Wow.", Sora murmured as he glanced back over his shoulder in the direction of the throne room as I exited 'vision mode'. "And I thought my parents were hard on me…"

"He's just looking out for her.", Donald pointed out. "He is her father."

The boy nodded slowly, facing forward again. "I guess so…"

"My father was never strict in that level.", I said. "Then again, I don't go outdoors to play where there is a chance that somebody could lead me into danger or doing something wrong."

"Aw, I sure hope they'll be okay.", Goofy muttered sadly.

Donald reached over and bopped his fist over Goofy's shelled backside. "It's all because you blabbed about the Keyhole! How many times do I hafta remind you not to talk about that?"

The captain of guard laughed sheepishly. "Gawrsh, I'm real sorry, Donald!" The duck-cecaelia just grumbled in frustration. "I wonder what happened back there. All of a sudden, I was unable to speak."

"I just cast Silence on you, Goofy.", I explained. "Why didn't you get the message that I didn't want you to say anything?"

"You didn't say anything."

"My bad. Next time, whenever I Silence any of you, it means that you're about to say something you're not supposed to say."

"Okay, Rael." Just then, we saw Ariel and Flounder enter our sights. Donald blinked in surprise and looked over at them. Sora then swam over so that he was swimming alongside the Atlanticans.

"Ariel, are you okay?", he asked.

Ariel and Flounder looked over in surprise. After a brief moment, the young mermaid lowered her gaze and shook her head, giving a forced smile.

"I… I'm fine.", she assured him as we came over and joined them.

Sora tilted his head to one side, not entirely convinced by the statement. I was completely unconvinced, but I decided not to push her and neither did Sora.

"So… where are you guys off to?", Yoris queried.

Ariel and Flounder exchanged looks again and then turned back to us. The former then gestured to come a little closer and, once we were all huddled together, spoke in a low tones, as if telling a secret.

"Come with us to my grotto.", she said. "I want to show you something."

"Your grotto?", Gregorio asked in confusion.

The little mermaid nodded, a mischievous glint in her blue eyes. She then motioned for us to follow her and Flounder and hurried away. Donald looked rather worried as he watched the pair swim ahead.

"I dunno about this.", he muttered. "What do you think, So—wak?"

Upon turning to face us, Donald found that we were already following Ariel and Flounder. Goofy paused to look back at him and waved.

"C'mon, Donald!", he called with a laugh.

And with that, as Goofy continued on his way, Donald frowned and followed.

KHKHKHKHKH

We made our way to a boulder in the ocean floor that seemed to be lying on a wall. After fending off yet another wave of Heartless (and rescuing a dolphin along the way) we reached the boulder. It looked real heavy, but to my surprise, Ariel managed to push it aside with ease. She then motioned for us to enter and that's what we did. We crossed the short tunnel, which opened up to an expanse.

As we made it to the center, Ariel stopped and looked around, ascending as she did so. When we stopped as well and looked around, we couldn't believe our eyes. All around us, the rock seemed to form into what looked like shelves. On these 'shelves' were all kinds of items. There were pots, mirrors, chests, cups, bottles, paintings (much to my surprise), books (even more surprising), and even old boots. There was also a hand bell, a candelabra holding a fork, spoon, and knife instead of candles, a globe, an old pipe for smoking, and a music box with a ballerina.

"Look at all the wonderful things Flounder and I collected.", Ariel told us. "I think it's all from the outside world."

"Wow.", I said. "I recognize all this stuff."

"You do?" She turned to me. "What are they?"

"Well…" I took a few minutes to explain all of the stuff in the grotto. Ariel got some of them wrong (like calling a fork a tinglehopper that is for brushing hair, which is what a comb or brush is for) and I corrected her accordingly. When she asked how I knew all this, I paused to think of an answer, but she cut me in again.

"No matter.", she said as she spun around once. "Someday, I'm going to see what's out there. I want to see other worlds. Does that sound strange?" She stopped to face Sora.

We tuned to one another in surprise. How did Ariel know about other worlds? Was it okay to tell her?

"No. Not at all.", the Key Bearer replied. "I used to feel the same way."

"Used to?" Ariel tilted her head in confusion.

"I mean…I still do."

"Hey why don't we try looking for that keyhole you were talking about?"

"But your father said—", Yoris began to state.

"Oh, he treats me like a little girl.", Ariel cut in angrily. "He never wants to let me do anything, even though I'm already eighteen. He just…he just doesn't understand."

_Eighteen?_, I thought. _So they also measure years the same way as we do?_

"Well, I wanna look around some more before we start.", I said.

As I jetted up to the various shelves, Yoris turned to the mermaid and said, "Why not you stay here while we go looking for that keyhole? I promise we'll show you what we found."

"No. I wanna come."

"Oh, all right."

Meanwhile, I found myself getting interested in a particular chest. It was red, and slightly ornate. I tried to peer through the keyhole, but the 'bubble' around my head prevented me from doing so. I turned to look for Sora, found him and motioned for him to come. He did so, saw the chest, and tapped the chest with his Keyblade. It then opened and we saw…

"A torn page.", muttered Sora.

Thankfully, that page wasn't as delicate as I thought it'd be. In fact, it seemed to be in the same condition as the other pages. Sora then went and stuffed the page into the 'portal ring' on my suit, which I was unable to see without anything reflective, of which there wasn't any in sight at the time.

"Well, let's go, guys."

"You better stay here, Flounder.", Ariel advised her friend. "Those creatures might attack again."

"Oh, all right.", the yellow fish sighed.

Immediately, we left the grotto. I was the last to go and just before exiting the grotto, I can't help but feel we had been watched. Suddenly, I entered 'vision mode' again.

KHKHKHKHKH

'I' was now in a strange place that seemed to be based around the bones of a large sea animal. A somewhat large cecaeila was looking down a half of a bivalve, which had a denser liquid of some kind that depicted us swimming along the water. The cecaelia had black-and-purple octopus tentacles as her bottom half, her upper half seemed to look like that of a large woman. Her skin was purple, her nails were of a darker shade, she wore 'eye shadow' of the same shade, her lips were red, her hair was white, and she wore a shell necklace whose string is almost too short.

The cecaelia cackled as she watched us. "Those impudent fools will never find the Keyhole.", she said. She then lay a hand over the shell. "But the girl could prove useful. And I've got the Heartless on my side. Triton, my old friend… Your day is coming."

She then cackled once more as she looked.

KHKHKHKHKH

Once 'I' was shaken off 'vision mode', I found myself crossing the waters in a high speed. I was holding on to Gregorio, who held onto Yoris, who held onto Donald, who held onto Ariel, who held onto Sora, who held onto…a dolphin. Goofy was holding onto me from behind as we suddenly entered a strong current and started swimming against it.

"What's happening?", I cried out.

"We're looking for the Keyhole, remember?", Yoris said.

"Ariel's taking us to a sunken ship.", Gregorio added.

"I see Rael's awake!", Ariel said. "What's with him?"

"He spaces out in occasion.", Donald explained. "We still don't know why."

Just then, we left the current, and the dolphin left us as Sora let go of it. The rest of us broke our 'chain' as we made it to where we were supposed to go. There was a sunken ship right ahead. It seemed to have used to be one of the kinds of old ships that were made some time after medieval times in my world; either a pirate ship, or a ship pirates raided. We swam around, seeing all sorts of wood all over the place, half-buried in the sand.

Ariel directed us to the deck of the ship and made her way down into the hull. As we followed, I can't help but feel something dangerous was around, and not just Heartless. Once we made it to the hull, we found a blue treasure chest. However, the wooden grid ahead that once served as a window looked brittle, as if something could get through it at any moment. As Ariel went to the chest, Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed.

Just then, my fears came true. A large shark came into view and broke through the 'window', much to everyone's shock. Fortunately, it didn't seem to be able to get all the way through as it pulled itself back and vaished out of sight. After waiting for a full minute, Sora approached the chest and opened it. Inside was a crystal of some kind, that was shaped like the trident's top.

"Hmm.", Sora wondered. "Its shape reminds me of something…" He decided to take it and then gave it to me as I stayed where I was. After all, I just saw a shark and was scared to death. He then approached my face and snapped me out of my shock. "Come on. Let's get outta here."

"Way ahead of you.", I answered as I put the 'crystal trident' through the 'portal ring'. We then went up the stairs back to the deck…only to see the shark right in sight. With it was a familiar face. He wore the same green samurai clothes, and wielded the same halberd, although his lower half was replaced with a black fish tail. I then realized this was a member of Xin's group in the form of a merman, although how he maintained his clothes is beyond me.

"Thanks for finding the Crystal Trident for me.", the merman said.

"Who are you?", Ariel asked.

"Why should I give out my name?" The merman then aimed his halberd at us. He then fired, only for the 'bullet' to move at a considerably slower rate and because of the waves it made as it sailed through the water, we all dodged it. He turned to his halberd and looked at it. "Damn underwater physics."

Sora and Gregorio took this chance to charge, but the shark then decided to attack. The two evaded it as it headed for the rest of us, and continued to the merman, but he saw them come and swung his halberd. Suddenly, a wave came out of it and pushed the two back. Meanwhile, the rest of us below scattered as the shark attacked. While I took Ariel to safety, despite the fact she can take herself there, Donald and Yoris were shooting ice attacks. Goofy twirled around like a frisbee, shield on…flipper.

As we turned around to see how our friends were faring, I saw that they were doing quite well. I also saw Sora cast Thunder on the merman, who dodged with ease, and Donald cast Fira on the shark. To my slight confusion, they seemed to be working effectively without the usual consequences; fire doesn't fizzle out and lightning doesn't electrocute everybody in the area from contact with water. Then again, King Triton's trident shot lightning bolts and nobody nearby was electrocuted. Perhaps magic prevents them from doing what their non-magical counterparts do.

"For the record…", the merman said as he pushed away his opponents with a surge of water. "The name's Wu." Wu then took out a conch shell-shaped device, pulled down the cloth over his mouth, and blew on it. The shark came and they both left the area in a high speed via the top as Wu presumably manipulated the water.

Once they were gone, Sora and company found Ariel and me and joined up.

"This way.", the mermaid said.

"Oh, I actually found another path?", I asked as we followed.

The path was short and it led to another current that flowed upwards. Ariel then entered it and ascended. Shrugging, we followed. As we went up the current, I realized we were headed right into a large treasure chest. I somehow managed to get ahead and I brought up my shield. Upon impact, I seemed to have ejected it form the hole it was blocking, which we then emerged from.

"Wow. That was…", Goofy said, then tried to find the right word as Sora seemed to aproach the open it up. Upon looking inside, Donald seemed to widen his eyes as he looked.

"An Orichalcum!", he cried out. "Take it!"

Dumbfounded, Sora took the rare gem and as usual stuffed it through the 'portal ring' in my suit. It felt real unnerving each time they did that. Ariel watched as he put his hand into me.

"My, your friend sure is strange.", she remarked. She then lightened up. "I think I know where to put the Crystal Trident."

She motioned us to follow her…a short distance as we made our way to the boulder blocking the way to Ariel's grotto. Or at least where there the boulder used to be. We saw bits of rock near the entrance, and I just knew that something or someone has obliterated the rock. Ariel gulped nervously, then decided to enter. We followed her and once we made it inside, we were shock upon what we saw.

Everything in the grotto was in ruins. The paintings, the chests, the pots, all broken. Floating in the middle of it all was King Triton, who held his trident tightly. Naturally, we all presumed that he did it. I heard of being strict, but thrashing one's child's peronal place was a **little** too much. (2)

"Ariel, you've disobeyed me again!", he said with such sternness that we just stood there unmoving. "I told you not to leave the palace!"

His daughter just went down and looked at all the destruction and picked up a broken necklace. "All the things Flounder and I gathered…" She then turned to her father with a grief-stricken and angry look. "I hate you!" She then swam out of the grotto in a huff.

"Ariel!", Flounder cried out as he came out from behind a toppled treasure chest and followed his friend.

We looked at all of Ariel's precious things, then Donald turned to King Triton in anger and cried out, "How can you be such a mean father?"

"That wasn't me.", King Triton answered in a low voice. "The Heartless have done it."

"Heartless?", Yoris asked. "How do you know about them?"

"You're not from another ocean. You're from another world, aren't you?" We all gasped in surprise. How did he know? He then looked at me. "I thought he looked suspicious." He then turned to Donald. "Did you really think your spell could mask your true identities?" Donald gulped once more. The king then turned to Sora as he held the Keyblade. "Then you must be the Key Bearer. You may fool Ariel, but you can't fool me. You don't know your dorsal fin from your tail." We all gulped again. Apparently, he knew from the way we swam that we weren't world-natives. Even though Sebastian had taught us how to swim, King Triton knew the difference between who was recently taught and one who has lived in the ocean all their life.

"Even if we are from another world, we do know what fish are.", Gregorio mumbled.

"As the Key Bearer, you must already know… One must not meddle in affairs of other worlds.", King Triton continued.

"Of course I know that, but…", Sora began to protest.

"We're here to eradicate, or at least alleviate the Heartless threat here.", Gregorio spoke up.

"You have violated this principle.", King Triton continued, ignoring Gregorio. "The key bearer shatters peace and brings ruin."

"That's not true!", Donald objected.

"Sora's not like that!", Goofy pleaded.

"I thank you for saving my daughter.", the king said as he turned to swim away. "But there is no place in my ocean for you and your key."

Sora looked at the Keyblade, now unsure of his mission. After all, his weapon, which we all thought was a weapon of maintaining order, was really one of disaster. Or is it possibly both? We weren't sure.

"I wonder. Should we really leave already?", I asked.

"Are you insane?", Donald replied. "We still didn't seal the Keyhole yet! We still need to be here!"

"I guess we'll have to wait for something to happen, then.", Sora answered. "Judging by what's been happening to us so far, I got a feeling that won't take long."

Suddenly, as I noticed Flounder hiding behind the wreckage, I received another 'vision'.

Part III. Theft of the Trident

In another part of the ocean, Ariel was alone, weeping as she lay on a rock with a few underwater flora. There was also a few seaweed an an anemone here and there. Just then, 'I' noticed two sinister figures arrive. Two teal moray eels each with one ordinary eye and one magical yellow eye. However, one had its yellow eye as its left and the other at its right.

"My, my, the poor child suffers such deep sorrow.", one eel said. They then started to swim forth and around Ariel.

"What a pity. If there were only something we could do…", said the other as Ariel noticed them.

"Wait. Maybe she could be of some help." Were they talking bout Ariel?

"Yes. Maybe she could be of some help to you." Okay. They aren't talking about Ariel. Or was the other eel saying that she was of help to its companion?

"Who are you talking about?", Ariel asked curiously.

"Oh, she would surely help you.", one eel replied as they swam upwards.

"She'd make all your dreams come true." They then spun around each other in place and black ink spewed out, blocking them from view. "Ursula cen help…"

As the cloud expanded, Ariel looked on in anticipation. Just then, a purple-and-black large-bodied cecaelia appeared.

"You called, my dear?", she asked. 'I' widened my eyes, recognizing her in a previous 'vision'.

"You're Ursula?", Ariel replied, not realizing the danger 'I' knew she was in. 'I' tried to warn her, then realized 'I' couldn't. "I was just wondering if—"

"It's all right.", the cecaelia cut in as she landed closer to where the mermaid lay. "Helping others is what I live for." She then turned to Ariel. "Let me guess. You wish to see other worlds. That shouldn't be too hard." Ariel then straightened herself, her interest piqued. "After all, you new friends came from another world." Behind Ursula, her eels swam around the two.

"What?", the mermaid gasped.

"But they had special help; that mysterious key." Ariel then turned her head down, presumably since there was no way she could get the Keyblade from Sora. Urula seemed to notice and approached her. "Now, now. Cheer up, sweetie. You have something special, too." All the while, the eels continued to circle the two as they turned to a general direction. Ariel then leaned toward Ursula as she leaned to her as well. "Now listen carefully."

Just then, before 'I' could find out more, 'I' was snapped out of 'vision mode'.

KHKHKHKHKH

I was back outside the grotto, accompanied by Sora and the others.

"What should we do now, Sora?", Yoris asked. "Should we leave Atlantica? After all, we're not wanted here."

The Key bearer sighed. "I guess we should. But…"

"We still have to find the Keyhole.", Donald reminded.

"Help!", a voice came.

We turned to see Flounder swim right for us. Following him was the same shark from the sunken ship.

"Flounder!", Sora called as the chubby fish hid behind me. "We'll handle this."

He charged, and Goofy and Gregorio followed. Donald and Yoris proceeded to take it down with ice. In a minute, the shark was kncked unconscious. Seconds later however, it quickly got up. Before we thought we had to fight it again, it fled.

"That's a relief.", Goofy sighed.

"Don't let your guard down so soon.", a voice came.

We all turned above and saw Wu, whom we have encountered back at the sunken ship with the shark.

"Wu!", Gregorio called.

"Give me the Crystal Trident." He stretched out a hand as if to receive something.

"Do you really expect us to just give it?", Donald asked as he took out his staff.

"…You're quite right." Wu then snapped his fingers and the native Heartless appeared and surrounded us. He then twirled his halberd and entered a fighting stance as we did the same thing.

Then, the Heartless charged. As everyone else split up to deal with them, as Flounder continued to his behind me, I aimed for the first one in front of me and as I whipped out my DirLuxGun and shot. Instead of a short beam, out came soething that spun, almost like a yo-yo. I then realized that it was the Yoyo Shot Power Orb. As the 'yo-yo' returned to me, I seemed to know what to do and turned around as if to launch the 'yo-yo' again. The 'yo-yo' curved around me like there was an invisible string connecting it to the DirLuxGun, then extended back at the Heartless.

Meanwhile, Sora and Gregorio were trading physical blows at Wu, or at least trying to as the latter pushed them away with waves of water. As the two tried to swim again for the samurai, after he pushed them away once more, I Thunder spell from Donald struck him and he was sent cascading away, spinning as he went. He recovered shortly and lay a hand on his head. He then decided to leave and swam away.

"Hey!", Gregorio yelled. "Come back here!"

He decided to pursue the fleeing merman, who didn't seem to be moving as fast as before when fleeing with the shark back at the sunken ship. Sora followed his friend and Donald and Goofy followed. Yoris noticed them leave, then turned to me as I continued to take down Heartless.

"Rael!", he called. "Let's get outta here! Sora's left without us!"

"On it!", I replied as I cast Confuse on random Heartless, stars appearing around their heads and they started to fight each other. Aquatanks were shooting bolts at Screwdivers, who absorbed the energy as they stabbed at Sea Neons who spun around and hit whoever stood in their way. As I dodged one of those, I followed Yoris as he led me out fo the area. Just then, as I grabbed onto Yoris's hand, I received another vision.

'I' was now at King Triton's throne room, but he did not seem to be there. I then remembered that he had left to confront us. He was probably on his way back.

"I think the Keyhole they seek is somewhere inside the palace.", 'I' heard a familiar voice. 'I' then turned to see Ariel approaching the throne. "Now, my dear, if you can take me there without your daddy knowing, I can help you get to these other worlds you long for."

As Ariel turned back, 'I' saw Ursula creep out from behind a column. Just then, the vision ended as I saw the palace in the distance. With me were the others. Wu seemed to be nowhere in sight.

"Where's Wu?"

"Disappeared.", Donald said gruffly.

"Hey. The palace is up ahead."

"Let's head there.", said Sora.

And that's what we did. However, just along the way, Heartless appeared and attacked. In the midst of the chaos, I saw what seemed to be a shop stand (under the sea?) and two sea creatures defending it.

One seemed to be a blue little dolphin with a horn on its head colored like its skin. wearing a blue glowing spiral shell necklace and shooting ice beams from it. It also wielded a blue, 'curvy' trident in its fins and swung it around. The other seemed to be a blue shark wielding a purple trident that had a shark fin' midway on the handle and a shield that depicted a purple shark on it. It was swinging the trident and skewering enemies with it. (3)

"Somebody's in trouble!", I cried out as I cast Charm on a Screwdiver, turning its eyes into heart-shapes as it began to attack its comrades. Sora saw the two fight and decided to come over help as they fended off Sea Neons, a Sheltering Zone looming over them. I saw Sora about to swing his Keyblade on the giant Heartless. "No! Shoot it with magic!" But it was too late. Sora swung a powerful combo, and when the Sheltering Zone was destroyed, it spit into three Sea Neons. "See?"

"Sorry!", apologized Sora as he then shot them down with Fire. After we defeated all the Heartless, we came over to the two sea creatures. As we came over, one of them noticed Donald.

"Hey. A half-duck-half-squid.", the 'narwhal' replied in a child-like, male voice. "Now that's a rare sight."

"Wak!", Donald gasped. "How did you see through my spell?"

"Maybe they aren't from Atlantica either.", Goofy guessed.

"Huh?", Flounder asked, confused.

"The turtle with the dog head is right.", said the shark in a gruff, slightly older voice. "We're from another world, just like you two. I presume your other friends are too, especially the one in the suit."

"How did you end up here?", Sora asked.

"We hail from Neopia.", said the dolphin.

Suddenly, my mind came back to the dream I had before this whole adventure. Where I was surrounded and asked questions by the pirate Garin, the babysitter Lumi, and my pet Shoyru Tychophon. I then recognized what they were. They were Neopets. The dolphin with the horn was a Flotsam and the shark was a Jetsam.

_Wait._, I thought._ Why do I remember them, but not something I know I was part of in Neopia?_

"I'm Flot.", the blue Flotsam continued. "And my friend here's Jet."

"Hi.", said the Jetsam, then turned to his friend. "Are you sure you should tell them our home world?"

"Maybe they can help us find a way back."

"You didn't answer Sora's question.", Gregorio cut in. "How did you end up in Atlantica from wherever you came from?"

"That wasn't his question.", said Jet. "But we'll answer anyway the best we can."

"We were just minding our own business swimming in the waters near the region of Maraqua when a white portal came out of nowhere.", Flot explained. "Took us right into this here place. Been wondering why since." (4)

"Then, somebody with a strange symbol came over. He supplied us with this gear and potions and stuff. We're shopkeepers now."

"Shopkeepers?", gasped Gregorio. "What do you have for sale?" Despite the supplies we have bought back at Traverse Town, not much was left after using them when we took part in the Pegasus cup back at Olympus Coliseum, and back when we escorted Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian to the palace.

"Well…"

"Can anybody please tell me what's going on?", Flounder asked.

"Well, you overheard King Triton say that we were from another world, right?", Goofy said.

"Every word."

"You see…"

A little while later, after buying some more Hi-Potions, Ethers, and a few Elixirs, and after Goofy explained where they were really from to Flounder, Flot then said, "Are you headed to the palace?"

"Uhh…I think so.", I said as the bottles were stuffed into the 'portal ring'.

"Careful, we saw Princess Ariel headed there with a cecaelia like yourself.", Jet said as he indicated Donald. "Only she was black-and-purple. And looked rather sinister."

Instantly, I rememebered that 'sea witch' I saw with Ariel back at my vision.

"Sometime after that, King Triton was on his way back here.", continued Flot. "I'm not sure he'll be happy to see that…witch there when he gets there."

"How long was it since?", Sora asked.

"Two minutes ago. We also saw a merman with clothes pass by."

"Where'd he go?", inquired Gregorio, knowing it was Wu.

"To the palace too. Is there a meeting or something?"

"Oh no.", Sora gasped. "We gotta hurry!"

"Stay with them, Flounder.", I said. "We'll be back."

Before he could protest, the six of us immediately sped right for the palace, leaving the two shopkeepers behind with Flounder. Suddenly, I received another vision. I mentally groaned and went with it.

KHKHKHKHKH (5)

Back at the throne room, Ursula had the trident on he riahgt hand and raised it high. She made a cackle as Wu came over by her side.

"The trident is mine at last!", she said. "And I couldn't have done it without your help, my dear."

King Triton was on his throne, severely weakened. Ariel was by his side.

"Ursula, no!", Ariel cried out. "I didn't want this!"

"Why not?", Ursula replied as her eels circled the throne room, as if in search of something. "Aren't you tired of following your dear daddy's orders?" She paused for a while. "Oh, yes. We had a deal, didn't we? Time for a little journey…to the dark world of the Heartless!"

"We cannot find the Keyhole.", said one of the eels.

"The Keyhole is not here.", said the other.

"What?" Ursula was no doubt disappointed. Just then, 'my' perspective returned to my own as I, Sora, and the others came over. The sea witch turned to see us. "Why, we have company. I'm afraid you're a little too late, handsome!" She then disappeared in a loud of ink and her eels and Wu joined her. When the ink dissipated, she was gone.

We finally reached the throne, although I felt a little flattered from Ursula's last words. Who did she think was handsome? Yoris, Gregorio, or Sora? Or was it a form of flattery? Ariel then turned to her father.

"Daddy!"

"The trident…", King Triton said weakly. "We must get it back."

Sora turned to his friends. "Come on, let's go."

"On it!", Gregorio said as we quickly turned around to search. Just then, Ariel swm ahead and in front of Sora and he stopped..

"Wiat, I'm going with you!", she said. "My father is hurt and it's all my fault. I have to stop Ursula."

"Well, okay.", Yoris said as he swam up to them. "But we'll need to know you combat capabilities first."

"I'm right behind you, Ariel.", Sebastian said as he came over.

"Usula draws power from her cauldron.", King Triton said. "To defeat Ursula, you must strike her cauldron with magic."

"Thanks for the advice, Your Majesty.", Gregorio said. "We'll retrieve your trident."

And with that, we left the throne room, ready to find that sea witch. When we made it back to the area before the palace, we decided to come over and see Flot and Jet, who were at what seemed to be shop stalls. They didn't have their armor on, having removed them and stored away. Flounder was with them.

"Flounder!", Ariel cried out.

"Ariel!" The two started to hug one another.

"Hello there.", said Flot, ignoring the litle moment. "How can I help you today?" He then turned to Ariel after she was done hugging Flounder. "Oh, how's the meeting there? Where's your companion?"

"She tricked me.", Ariel said. "She's after the Keyhole. I have to stop her."

"Keyhole? I don't think you mean the ones in doors or chests."

"Do you have any weapons she could possibly use?", Yoris asked before the Flotsam could get curious.

"Let's have a look." Both of them left the stalls and circled Ariel, looking at her closely.

"Just what is dis Keyhole?", Sebastian asked.

"Now's not the time.", said Gregorio, waving him off.

"Hmm. Let's see here.", murmured Jet. "Hmm…strong arm power, probably from pushing boulders. Sleek fins, good for quick bursts of speed."

"Can she wield one of your weapons?", suggested Goofy.

"Sorry, but only Jetsams can use my gear." He then turned to Flot. "And only Flotsams can use his gear."

"Flotsams? Jetsams?", Ariel mused. "I think those were the names of the eels Ursula was with."

"We're from another world.", Flot explained. "Those are our species names."

"What's it like there?"

"Well…"

"Aren't we gonna stop Ursula or not?", Donald interrupted.

"Oh, right.", agreed Jet. "I don't think we have any weapons for her to use. But, I think I know of a way she can fight." He headed to his stall, then took out what looked like a sack. He stuck his fin inside and took out three bottles of distictly different shapes. "Hurl these potions at your targets to zap them, create a barrier of wind around them, or heal them, the latter of which does better than the potions we sell. "

"How much is it?", Donald asked as Ariel took the sack.

"We're loaning it to her for free in support for the 'war effort' against these creatures, and also because Ariel is a princess, being the daugher of King Triton and all.", said Flot. "Speaking of which, where are your sisters? We haven't seen them since those creatures came."

"They're in hiding by my daddy's orders.", Ariel said.

"And apparently, you haven't followed this 'protocol' of his."

"No." She then turned to Flot. "How many potions are in here?"

"The stock magically refills, although it saps some energy from you, the one used for magic and casting spells." Donald raised his eyebrows. "Well, go kick their butts!"

"Will do.", said Gregorio as we took off.

Part IV. Confrontation with the Sea Witch

"Just where do we even start looking for Ursula?", Donald complained.

We were roaming the seas, looking for clues. Flounder was left behind once again with Flot and Jet. After a long time of searching, we met up at the entrance to Ariel's grotto.

"Man! Just where do we even start looking?", Yoris complained.

"Donald just said that, Yoris.", Gregorio told his friend.

"Sorry."

"You know, I think I remember seeing a starnge stone in the area with the sunken ship.", mused Goofy.

"Strange, you mean, Goofy.", Donald said, then paused. "Wait, what?" Donald was surprised. "How did we miss that?"

"I think I remember that place.", said Ariel. "Let's go."

Immediately, she was off. Fortunately, there was no more current like before, and soon enough…we encoutered the shark again.

"Ariel!", Sora cried out as we attacked.

"On it!" Ariel put her hand inside the sack, took out a potion, and hurled it. Everyone got out of the way, and upon impact, the potion blew up and the shark began to spaz. Yoris then proceeded to pelt it with ice balls. Just then, the shark recovered from its paralysis and started to head right for Goofy.

"No!"

The shark then bit…on a withdrawn shell. As Goofy's turtle shell was too tough, the shark's teeth broke and it fled.

"Now that was easy.", I said, knowing that shark's teeth grow back quickly. "Now where's that stone, Goofy?"

The sea turtle poked his limbs and head out of his shell, then pointed a fin somewhere. "Over there."

We turned to see a strange stone with a runic-like drawing of some creature on it. As we approached it, I saw something hidden behind a wooden wreckage. It seemed to be a button of some kind.

"Hmm…", I mused. Just then, Sebastian came over. "Oh, Sebastian. I was about to ask you to—"

"Leave dat to me." the crab swam for the button and pushed it. Beside us, the stone with the runic drawing descended into the sand, revealing a passageway.

"Nice work."

"There may be Heartless up ahead.", warned Yoris. "We can't waste time against them."

"Here." Ariel took out another bottle, opened the cork, and spilt the contents onto all of us, or at least tried to, considering we were underwater and all. The liquid from the potion hit us and suddenly, it was as if Aero was cast on us. There was a barrier of current surrounding us and to protect from damage. I then cast Protect and a yellow barrier surrounded us.

"Let's go.", I said.

We wasted no time in swimming down the tunnel, which was also dark at certain parts and had Search Ghosts. We bypassed them, taking them down when possible. In occasion, Sea Neons and Screwdivers scraped past us, but thanks to Protect, we suffered less injuries than usual. Along the way, just as the buffs Ariel and I cast expired, we found ourselves in front of what seemed to be a 'garden' of what looked like what Yoris identified as polyps.

"Aagh!", I cringed in fright as they seemed to look up at us. "What are these?"

"Prob'ly victims of Ursula's magic.", Sebastian told me as I rode on Goofy's turtle back, not wanting to step on any of the polyps.

"Is there a way to free them?", Sora asked

"Probably once we defeat Ursula.", Ariel guessed.

"Typical lack of ontological inertia.", Yoris mumbled. "But since it's magic and all…" We ignored Yoris as we continued.

Finally, we made it to the center of Ursula's lair. Right ahead was the bivalve I saw in an earlier vision, then I figured that was the cauldron King Triton was talking about. Past that seemed to be a pipe of sorts made out of a seashell. Inside was without a doubt Ursula. We weren't able to see her eels or Wu, but we knew they were close by or would soon appear. As the sea witch creeped out of the 'pipe', Donald and Sebastian were up front.

"Come on out!", he yelled. "You can't run!"

"Your time has come!", said Sebastin as he popped out from behind Donald's head.

Ursula just 'jumped' out of the pipe and stared at them intensely. The two then drew back with a frightful scream. She then made a wicked smile and tossed a potion at the cauldron, the 'liquid' turning red. Her eels and Wu emerged from the 'pipe' ready to fight.

"Let's get this started.", Wu said as he twirled his halberd, then raised it into the air. Once more, an invisible barrier seemed to form around him, then it expanded to engulf us. However, Goofy and Sebastian were sent out back where the polyps were. "We're getting that Crystal Trident."

_What's this?_, I thought. _A five-fighter limit now? Or is Ariel counted as a fighter?_

"Who were those polyps we just passed by?", Yoris asked sternly.

"Ah, those.", said Ursula. "Would you like to join them? I have fulfulled their wishes, but the price was too high for them."

"Liar! You swindled them!", Sebastian called from behind the barrier.

"Silence! You will wish the shark should've eaten you. This is the end."

"Whose end, I wonder?", snarked Gregorio.

Wu was the first to charge as he sent out a wave of water at us. We dodged it and began to fight. Gregorio clashed with Wu after the latter did a follow through from his last wave attack. Ursula's eels surrounded me and were constricting me by the arms.

"Now I know what it feels like to be constricted by a snake.", I groaned. "Even if these aren't snakes." I turned to Sora, Donald, and Ariel, who were fighting off Ursula herself, who was swatting them away with her tentacles. "Guys! Remember King Triton's words!"

"On it!", Sora replied.

"I'll deal with Ursula!", Ariel said as she hurled a Thunder Potion at the sea witch.

"Okay! Donald!"

"You said it!" The two then started to cast Fira on the cauldron. Yoris also attacked alongside them. In a second, there was a colorful wave of magic that knocked out Ursula, Wu, and the eels, freeing me from the latter's grip. I proceeded to shoot at the unconscious Ursula while Ariel spun like a Sea Neon, arms outstretched to make consecutive hits, then ended with a tail flip.

Meanwhile, everyone else was dealing with everyone else, with Sora deciding to try and tie up the eels into each other, but it was proving more difficult than he thought. Just then, our enemies got up again. The two eels decided to constrict Sora, but he quickly slipped out of their grip. Ursula was now spinning around in place, using her tentacles to shove off Ariel and Gregorio. Wu was now trying to dodge Donald's magic and Yoris's ice balls.

I decided to deal with the cauldron, but then realized I didn't have any offensive spells equipped. I decided to make do with my DirLuxGun and fired. Whenever Wu, the eels, or even Ursula came over to attack me, I cast Stop on them, moved away and let my allies deal with them, then continue shooting. Once a wave came and knocked out our opponents, I shot away at Ursula.

At the end of the battle, Ursula was still up, but her comrades weren't. Wu had been critically wounded and I turned away as he vanished into darkness. The two eels also vanished into darkness. Ursula gasped in shock as her 'poopsies' disappeared. The barrier also disappeared as we all faced her head-on.

"You'll pay for this!", she screamed as she left through the 'pipe' we saw earlier.

"Let's go.", said Ariel as she hurled Cure Potions at us, which indeed worked better than our own Potions. "We must get the trident back."

"Hey. What's this?" Yoris made his way to the cauldron which was now empty, save for what seemed to be— "Another part!" He went down and picked up what looked like a large black computer chip. "An ingot."

"I thought they were behind keyholes in chests.", the mermaid asked.

"Must have been taken from its original location." Yoris then put the ingot through my suit's 'portal ring'.

"Where do we even start finding Ursula?", I asked. "Can we pass through there?" I thumbed to the 'pipe'.

"Could you check, Donald?", Sora asked.

"Wak! Why me?"

"Fine, I will." Sora went through the pipe and we waited. After a while, he popped out. "It splits up. We must find another way."

"I think I have an idea on where she might be going.", Ariel voiced.

"Where?"

KHKHKHKHKH

After foowing Ariel across caves and through another current, we found ourselves in the open ocean. There were no rock walls in here like before, save for the one that held the tunnelway back, only a wide expanse of water as far as the eye can see. Up ahead, we confronted Ursula, who had the trident on her right hand.

"You pathertic fools!", she yelled. "I rule the seas now!" She then swam downwards and the trident blinked. In the span of fifteen seconds, she had enlarged so much that Sora was now only as big as her ear. "The sea and all of its spoils bow to my power!" As ink spewed out of her, we immediately swam upwards, then turned around to see her ugly face.

"At this rate of bad guys getting bigger, I was hoping for somebody to provide us with giant robots to handle this.", I mused.

"Now where did that come from?", Gregorio asked s he readied his javelin.

"Let's just focus on the task at hand.", Sora cut in.

"You're the leader.", I said.

"Huh?"

I immediately jetted one way and everyone else split up. Sora was confused for a moment, then he was suddenly hit by a storm of bubbles. All around the battlefield, lightning bolts struck on occasion. As we all swam about, we attacked with everything we got. Ariel lobbed Thunder Potions, Donald barraged Ursula with Fira balls, Yoris shot ice balls, Goofy whirled at the witch's head, Gregorio was swinging his javelin there, and I was making my way around to the sea witch's back, hoping she wouldn't use her tentacles to constrict us, seeing that could be easily accomplished.

Fortunately she didn't even seem to notice us attacking her, or is too confident in her power with the trident that she's laughing off our seemingly futile efforts. She also made meaningless taunts as she also shot a Thunder-like laser from her mouth. All the while, each time she raised her trident, thunderbolts rained down.

In the midst of the chaotic battle, I found myself on Ursula's back, holding on to the string of her shell necklace. I then shot at her head until my DirLuxGun's battery ran out and once it did, resorted to pulling on the string as if to choke her. Meanwhile, I saw everyone else focusing on Ursula's head as well. In fact, while the sea witch spun around, Sora ended up on the same predicament as me and decided to attack. Seeing the powerful bolts coming down, I cast Shell and a blue barrier surrounded all of us. We still got hurt from the bubbles, 'thunder breath', and thunderbolts Ursula doled out on us, but hurt as much as without Shell.

It was a long fight and then, I felt something grab me. They also grabbed everyone else. I knew it was the tentacles.

"Is that all you've got?", the sea witch taunted. "Come on! Defend yourself!" For some reason, because of the suit, I didn't feel any constriction. However, I was still unable to move.

"Donald! Do something!", Sora cried out.

"Easier said than done!", the duck retorted.

"Then think of something, you cuttlefish!", said Gregorio.

Ursula raised the trident and she brewed up a powerful waterspout; a tornado in the ocean.

"It's the trident!", Yoris yelled. "We have to get it off her hands!"

"How do you suggest we do that?", I yelled. "We're all tied up!"

Just then, I thought I saw a shipwreck get picked up from the depths and was making a course right for Ursula. I could only hope it would hit. My hopes came true. It seemed to have collided at her back and she jerked, releasing us from her bonds.

"All right!", Sora said. "Attack!"

As one, after Ariel used Cure Potions on all of us, we charged. As we reached her head, Ariel tossed a Thunder Potion at Ursula's face. Donald then barraged her with Fira, followed by Yoris launching ice balls at her eyes. Goofy went past her head and swam at her underside, Gregorio following. She slipped and her hand with the trident was raised high. Sora took the chance to disarm her and the trident was sent 'flying' up to the water's surface.

As I had moved upwards, I saw the trident head right for me. As I saw it shrink to its normal size, it ended up right at my hands. Suddenly, the trident turned itself to Ursula and a lightning bolt surged from it. I could feel the power in my hands as it zapped her into oblivion. After the bolt ended, we could all see Ursula choke as black ink, or perhaps darkness, seemed to absorb her. Once she was gone, we all made a sigh of relief.

"Glad that's over.", I said. "Let's head back to the palace."

Part V. Sealing the Keyhole

We were back at Triton's throne, where I handed back the trident to its rightful owner. I still felt nervous, but I managed to do it regardless. Flounder, Sebastian, and even Flot and Jet were watching. Once the trident returned to his hands, it was as if Triton's energy returned.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry.", said Ariel as I slowly backed away.

"Please don't be angry with her.", Sora added.

King Triton made a huge sigh, as if making an apology himself. "It's my fault. You followed Ursula because…I wouldn't let you follow your heart." He then turned to Sora. "Key Bearer, I have one more request: seal the Keyhole."

"Of course. That's what we had in mind form the start."

"Oh yeah.", Gregorio mused. "I was wondering something else. At the sunken ship, we found this." He reached into my portal ring and pulled out the Crystal Trident. "One of Ursula's cohorts was after it. Do you know what it is?"

"The Crystal Trident…is one of two things that hold the power to reveal the Keyhole, the other being my own." He indicated his trident.

"Where is this Keyhole, Daddy?", Ariel asked.

"You should know better than anyone. It's in your grotto."

"Really…Sora, let's go.", Goofy said.

"And another thing." We turned back to King Triton. "I'd like to give you this." He handed us a small sack. Sora received it, and inspected it contents. He descended so I could see it as well. There was a slightly larger yellow scroll, a page of what we later identified to be a page of Ansem's Report, and a couple of Power Orbs. Most depicted symbols of some spells I already had, but doubled, as well as three new ones. These had a crossed-out eye, a crossed-out foot, and a crossed-out hand. I learned later from Donald that they were Blind (reduce accuracy), Immobillize (unable to move, but can still 'act'), and Disable (unable to 'act', but can still move).

We bowed to the king, just before we made our way to Ariel's grotto, Flot called out to us. "Oh Ariel. Don't forget your loan."

"Oh, right." She returned the sack to Flot and he and Jet bowed to her.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you, your Grace."

"Please, just call me Ariel."

"All right then…Ariel.", Jet replied.

KHKHKHKHKH

Once we returned to Ariel's grotto, we got to work on looking for where to insert the Crystal Trident, cleaning up the mess the Heartless did. Just then, I noticed the place. It was a blue emblem of some kind, and it seemed to be the perfect spot to insert the Crystal Trident in. I reached in the 'portal ring', took out the Crystal Trident, and inserted it into the emblem. Once I stood back a little, a surge of bubbles seemed to have come forth from the middle of the room. Suddenly, something from there seemed to glow. Once the light faded, I could see what looked like a panel. In it was the Keyhole.

Like before, Sora aimed his Keyblade at the Keyhole. As the tip of the Keyblade began to sparkle, the Keyhole outlined itself in an orange glow. Beams of blue light and yellow stars began to swirl into the tip of the Keyblade. Once the power finished accumulating, then a thin beam of bright blue light shot out of the end of the Keyblade. It hit the Keyhole, which suddenly began to glow bright blue. Soon, there was a click, and the Keyhole disappeared in the same way it came, but also dissipating into sparkles and bubbles.

Once the spectacle was over, Ariel swam over to Sora to ask a question. "Tell me, Sora.", she asked. "Your world, what's it like?"

Sora turned to face Ariel. "Oh, about that…Sorry for lying to you."

Ariel let out a short giggle as she shook her head sweetly. "It's okay." She then began to swim upward and spun around as she did so. "Besides, if you can travel to other worlds, maybe I can too. So many places I want to see… I know I'll get there someday. I'll find a way somehow. I'm sure of it."

As we all looked up at her, I heard a voice behind me. I turned to see Sebastian. "Well, if you find it, do me a favor and leave me out of it."

Once Ariel was sone wondering, she went over to one of the chests that remained untouched from the destruction. She opened it, and took out something from it. She then swam over to Sora and took his hand.

"Here.", she said. "This is from my collection. I'd like you to have it."

He opened his hand and saw that it was a keychain. Hanging on a blue chain was a blue closed bivalve. "Uh…thanks."

"Well, we better be going now.", Yoris said after the cleanup was finished.

"Take care of yourself.", said Gregorio. "While the Keyhole is sealed, Heartless remain, if even in fewer numbers." He then took out the teleportation device and signaled for all of us to gather.

"Are you sure?", Donald whispered.

"Come on. They already know of other worlds."

"Goodbye, Ariel.", said Sora as we held on to each other. Gregorio pushed the button, and we were gone in a flash.

Gummi Ship Time: The Bends and Teleportation

The moment we were back in the Transwarp Room, everybody fell over to the floor. Everybody except me.

"Oww…I have sore muscles!", Sora complained.

"Well, who wouldn't after being unerwater for a long time?", Yoris moaned as Goofy whimpered.

"Why is Rael unaffected?", Donald asked as he lay on the floor.

"I think that suit Gregorio gave me was a pressure suit.", I said. It was back in my hands. "I was able to move in that suit as fast as if I were on land."

"Well, we all need a rest.", Sora sighed.

"This isn't the place.", I said as I put away the suit back where Gregorio took it, and then started to bring them to the Destiny's living room one by one. BY that time, I was tired as well. However, Gregorio seemed to have recovered quickly. As he struggled to get up, I held him down trying to stop him.

"Please don't push yourself, Gregorio.", I pleaded.

"Somebody's gotta pilot the Destiny.", he replied.

"Would you like me to do that for you?", a voice came. A screen came down and the AI appeared. "I can also pilot the Destiny if you like."

"Okay.", Gregorio answered. "Do you sense any other Gummi Ships nearby?"

"…Yes. I do."

"Could you please fetch the Excalibur, the one close to Atlantica?"

"Will do.", said the AI. "Please relax as I do your command. After this, I will return to Traverse Town."

"Okay." Suddenly, I dropped off to sleep.

**Ariel**

_Triton's youngest daughter. Ursula tricked her into helping steal his trident. With help from Sora and the others, all was put right. Still, she'll never stop dreaming of exploring the world outside her father's palace._

_Her voice enchanted us in "The Little Mermaid" (1989)._

**Flounder**

_Ariel's trusted friend. Flounder will do anything for her. He's small and not exactly brave, but he'll never leave Ariel's side, even when it means facing danger._

_He appeared in "The Little Mermaid" (1989)._

**Sebastian**

_Triton's concert master, a musical genius. The little crab is also responsible for keeping an eye on Ariel to ensure her safety. Whenever she leaves the palace, he's on pins and needles._

_He conducted himself in "The Little Mermaid" (1989)._

**King Triton**

_King of Atlantica, who is backed by the power of his trident. He has forbidden Ariel to have any contact with outsiders, which only led to her yearn to grow even stronger._

_He ruled the seas in "The Little Mermaid" (1989)._

**Wu**

_Presumably a member of Maleficent's group. He was assigned to assist with Ursula and steal the Crystal Trident. After defeating him and Ursula i turns out that the Crystal Trident holds the power to reveal the Keyhole._

**Flotsam and Jetsam**

_Ursula's lackeys. Evil moray eels, they are smooth talkers who love to deceive. Their specialty is using empty promises to lure unsuspecting mermen and mermaids into Ursula's clutches._

_They ran interference for Ursula in "The Little Mermaid" (1989)._

**Ursula**

_She deceived Ariel and stole the trident to take over Atlantica. Using its power, she became an enormous monster and battled Sora and company._

_She appeared in "The Little Mermaid" (1989)._

**Flot and Jet**

_Two 'Neopets' who hail from a world called Neopia and have accidentally ended up in Atlantica. They provided Ariel with a sack of potions for battle and are shopkeepers._

_Their species, the Flotsam and Jetsam (unrelated to Ursula's eels) were released in "Neopets" (1999)._

(1) Got sandy cheeks?

(2) An understatement of course.

(3) If one remembered my first "Kingdom Hearts Remake 1", these are the first Neopets shown there.

(4) In the first "Kingdom Hearts Remake 1", they came in for no apparent reason than just for a pun. I wasn't that good a writer back then. Flotsam and Jetsam, two eels of Ursula, and two species of Neopets, both named after stuff gone overboard or something. Flotsam are floating wreckage/cargo. Jetsam are jettisoned ship parts/cargo.

(5) Well, there has to be a reason why Sora and co. head back to Triton's Throne, so I decided to make this the reason in mine; pursue Wu, hear about Ursula through Flot and Jet, and here you go.

-Sorry if the 'quality' lowered halfway, but I was running out of sources of inspiration. Also, I decided to change some parts and mix the manga events wih the game. Of course, the polyps back in Ursula's lair have been liberated, but they are either in hiding by order of King Triton, or (even worse) attacked by and turned into Heartless. See ya on Third!-


	15. Chapter 12: Halloween Town

nightelf37: Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there (or the manga), or even the move where the current world is based on, I 'own' it. And here is 'my' current Power Orb inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Cure, Esuna, Regen, Silence, Charm, Blizzara, Blind, Immobilize, Disable

(skills) Shield Boomer, Aura Wave

(summons) XR

In storage:

(spells) Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Aero, Gravity, Poison, Stop, Confuse, Protect, Shell, Dispel, Fira, Thundara

(skills) Sky Dropper, Boomer Blast, Yoyo Shot

(summons) Baloo, Bahamut (with Merlin)

nightelf37: Oh, and by the way, Happy Halloween!

Chapter 12: Halloween Town

Part I. Heartess Performers

Once I awoke, I was back in my seat in the Destiny's cockpit. Yoris was back in the seat next to mine, and Gregorio was at the controls.

"Uhh…", I was about to say.

"Sora, Donald, and Goofy are back in the Excalibur.", Yoris told me. "They're right behind us."

Gregorio activated the comms system and it showed Sora on the controls. Donald and Goofy were on the seats behind him.

"So, are you good enough yet?", Gregorio asked Sora.

"Yeah. I guess."

"He wishes.", Donald scoffed.

"Hey!"

"We're at the next world.", called Gregorio. The world ahead of us was shaped like a pumpkin carved into a jack o' lantern. There were all sorts of Gothic, twisted, and creepy buildings all over. "Let's see here. The world's name is—"

"Halloween Town?", I guessed. Indeed, when the name came, it said "Halloween Town".

Gregorio turned to me in surprise. "How'd you know?"

"I merely guessed it from how the world looked. You don't have Halloween in Destiny Islands?"

"We do."

"Let's just get down already and seal this Keyhole.", said Yoris.

KHKHKHKHKH

Upon landing into the world, we seemed to be just outside a town just ahead. As I expected from looking 'outside' back at the Destiny, it had a Halloween theme to it. There were jack o' lantern lamp lights all around. Also, we looked seriously out of place here, with our relatively bright colors and all.

"I feel like we're too out of place here.", said Yoris.

"I can fix that.", Donald said as he took out his staff. He raised it in the air and twirled it around. We were then engulfed in a bright light. When it faded, we had changed appearace.

Sora's clothes were now almost completely black, appearing to be made of faded leather. He had white gloves and clawed fingers, the shoulders of his jacket grey, and very small, black, bat wings on his upper back. His shoes were now black with pointed toes and a grey stripe. His legs were wrapped in black-and-red bandages. His canines become more pointed and his face became more ashen and shadowed.

His hair was a darker shade and he wore an orange mask on the right side of his face, covering his right eye. The mask was circular with small horns on the top, a jagged mouth, and triangular eyes. The mask's right eye was green and the left one appeared to be scratched out. As he summoned his Keyblade shortly after, it was darker and more ashen.

Donald's body, save for the tips of his toes and his beak, was covered by mummy-like bandages, and a gap between his stomach and waist revealed nothing under them. There was a similar between his right elbow and wrist.

His beak and feet were less vibrant in color, the feathers on his tail and head looked sharp, and his eyes gained a thick, black outline around them.

Goofy's appearance now resembled the stereotypical depiction of Frankenstein's monster. He wore a tan turtleneck sweater, a yellow, tattered, patched jacket, green pants equally tattered and patched, with a black left leg, black suspenders, and brown shoes with holes ripped open for his toes. All of his clothing was faded. Goofy's were almost the same, but thinner and more mangier-looking.

He had an enormous, silver screw in the top of his head and his fingernails were pointed. His fur was black and was spiked wildly on his head around the screw. Goofy's nose was now a metal cap tipped with a small jack o' lantern. His left eye was red and the right one was a grey spiral.

Gregorio's appearance was close to the classical vampire in movies of old, complete with slicked hairstyle, outdated (in my time) yet suave clothes consisting of an ominous black cape and high collar. However, his skin was now blue, the irises on his eyes were red, and he had wings sticking out from the cape.

Yoris seemed to have his clothes changed into that of a gardener's (y'know, those like those old cranky farmers who chase away naughty kids) or a scarecrow's…and his head seemed to resemble a pumpkin carved into a jack o' lantern. It wasn't as if his head was inside the pumkin but rather that his head _is _the pumpkin. (1)

"Did you really have to make me like this, Donald?", he complained.

"Sorry. My magic doesn't determine what form you assume based on my perferences."

"Meaning?"

"I don't decide what you turn into!"

"…I see."

As for me, I now wore a dark brown cloak (with hood) completely covering most of my body. I wasn't able to see much of myself, save for the fact that I had a special mascot head over my…well, head. For some reason, it didn't limit my field of vision like I expected. According to Donald, my mascot head was green, round, had a small snout, and yellow eyes. Behind me was a green tail shaped like that of a fish. I also had a belt around my cloak, which held an old-fashioned lantern and a small butcher knife.

"You remind me of a Ton…Ton…", Goofy struggled to say.

"Tonberry.", Donald corrected.

"Oh yeah."

"Where did you guys encounter Tonberries?", I asked them.

"I'd rather not say. It didn't end well."

"Uh…okay. I won't ask any further."

"This sure is a spooky place.", Yoris noted. "I'll bet the people here are scary-lookin' too."

"Don't worry. We look spooky, too.", Donald assured. "If they scare us, we'll scare them right back!"

"You think so?"

Gregorio demonstrated by walking up right behind and yelling "Boo!" Donald jumped in fright, losing a few feathers. He then turned to Yoris, "Yep, I say he's right."

"Don't do that!", Donald scolded.

"All right, all right."

We then walked down the path leading to a tall black iron gate. Once we made it there, it automatically opened for us to enter. We crossed the gate, then as we entered what the signs called Guillotine Square, we looked to the distance and saw the various buildings. One of them seemed to be smoking, although I assumed it's from a chimney, even though it didn't look like it, but judging by the town's creepiness, I assumed it was from that. However, what truly caught our attention was the strange green fountain. Around it, greeting us were Search Ghost Heartless. However, they looked rather ashen, fitting in to the place.

Naturally we all had our weapons on the ready. While I was asleep in the Destiny, the rest of my companions (save for Sora) obtained new weapons. Yoris was now able to shoot thunder balls from his cannon, and Gregorio had a more ornate staff, and the wood seemed to be more furnished, although I almost couldn't tell from the ashen appearance everything was in.

Goofy wielded a Golem Shield, which was shaped like a classical knight's shield where it curved to a point at the bottom. It was red-orange with yellow patterns on it, and had three screws on the bottom and the top two corners. Donald had a Silver Mallet hammer (he insisted it was a staff) with a long, thin, brown handle, a faint violet glow, a black-gold-and-silver tip, two small, white wings on the handle, and a sky blue, double-headed, bellows-style head.

We remained steady, anticipating their attack…which never came. We saw it as odd, since all Heartless attack us, with the exception of the White Mushroom. Instead, they were dancing about, if only feebly. The usual Heartless action, when under the command of someone superior, was to stand ground, kidnap, escort, or usually attack. This was definitely strange.

"Something's up with these fellows.", Gregorio muttered.

"Let's attack them.", Donald said.

"Don't.", Yoris warned. "Let's just ignore them. They might be traps."

"…Oh, all right."

And that's what we did, although we kept our wepons up just in case. As we walked, I realized our weapons were under that ashen appearance like the Heartless. After a short while of exploration, we heard somebody clearing his throat through a megaphone. We turned to see a strange, short man. His head was cone shaped and depicted a permanant smile. It was peach-colored (like his hands), and had rosy cheeks.

His body was also cone-shaped, his body ballooning outward before ending on short, stubby legs with very tiny feet. He wore a thin top hat about his height, a black suit with a white undershirt and black-and-white pinstriped pants, a black widow spider-shaped pendant/bow-tie, and a red ribbon with the word "MAYOR" printed on a white center pinned to the left breast of his blazer.

"And now, allow me to introduce the master of terror, the king of nightmares…Jack Skellington!", he announced.

The Search Ghosts had arranged in two lines during this, directed to the gate as if to introduce somebody who was supposed to appear from the well. As they properly dispersed, hands up to show who was supposed to come, a figure indeed emerged from the well.

This figure, whom the "MAYOR" called Jack Skellington, was extremely thin and equally tall, his legs over twice as long as his torso. He was a skeleton, so his head naturally lacked hair and sported empty eye sockets and nostrils. Strangely, his neck was solid, not showing vertebrae segmentaton like most skeletons. Also, his skull had no distinction between upper and lower jaws. His mouth was thin and wide, marked by a number of small "seams". In a number of places, he was missing several teeth. Unlike his head and neck, Jack's hands showed joints.

Jack wore a macabre black suit with white pinstripes. The top had a single white button, and what underneath was either a shirt or his bone-white chest. His black dress shoes were small compared to the rest of his body. The coat tails of Jack's coat reached his knees, and he wore a large, black bow-tie shaped like a bat with white veins in its wings.

Once Jack emerged from the well, he made a magnificent pose. At that instant, the Mayor ran to Jack in congratulations. "Bravo, Jack! Bravo!", he said. "Those ghosts will be a big hit at this year's Halloween!

Jack walked to the Mayor, waving his right hand to him and anyody else in the area, which we were the only ones. "Thank you, thank you!" He then assumed an akimbo position, apparently still not impressed. "But their movement still needs work. It's not scary enough." He assumed a dejected pose. "I want to strike bone-chilling terror." He then made a scary look, shocking the Mayor. "I'm going to consult the doctor." He then went on his way, presumably to 'see the doctor', leaving the Mayor on his own.

"Then I'll go attend to the decorations.", the Mayor said as he started to move about.

"Wait a second.", I said. "Why would Jack see the doctor in fixing a problem with the Heartless's performance?"

"Maybe the doctor's not a medical one.", Gregorio suggested.

"Let's go talk to that Jack guy.", Sora said. "Maybe we can find out why the Heartless are not hostile."

"Right.", I agreed. "Sounds nice for a change."

We walked along the square, bypassing the non-hostile Search Ghosts, and made our way to where Jack was headed. We reached some double doors and opened them. It led to a stairway ahead, which we climbed. It led to a metal door, which we opened. It led to a room that wasn't tinted in the usual orange-and-black seen outside. The place was completely metallic and had a teal tint. Jack seemed to be consulting a book of some kind, checking it for…something. On what I presumed to be a table for experiments was a Search Ghost Heartless, laying on it like a test subject for a mad scientist.

Next to the Heartless was a frail-looking person, with thin, spindly limbs and very small hands and feet, but a disproportionately large head. He was confined to a black, electric wheelchair that seems to be rather hard to work with. The chair was almost entirely metal and lacked any sort of cushioning, and it sported one lever on each armrest, presumably for controlling the chair.

He was dressed in a white lab coat buttoned up on the right side, pants of the same color, black shoes, and black gloves that were a good deal wider than his arms. His skin was an unhealthy white, had goggles covering his eyes, thin black eyebrows, a beak-like mouth missing a few teeth, ears and nose so small as to be almost nonexistent, and nostrils pointed forward. His skull bore several obvious bolts and a clear horizontal seam going around the middle.

"I don't understand.", Jack said as he scanned the book. "Maybe the guidance system was damaged in the explosion."

"So that was what that smoke we saw was.", Yoris mused.

"Nonsense.", the one on the wheel chair, who we presumed to be the doctor, protested. "My devices are always perfect!"

After a while of looking at the book, Jack reared up in discovery, "Oh, I've got it!" He then turned to the doctor. "Why of course! The Heartless need a heart! Doctor, do you think we can add a heart to that device?"

"Certainly.", the doctor replied as he turned his chair around and made his way to the other side of the table. "A heart's not all that complicated. Let's get to work."

"A heart's not simple.", Sora muttered. "Or at least not the ones we're protecting from the Heartless."

Jack continued to read the book. "To make a heart, first take a container with a lock…" The doctor took out a brown container 'wrapped' by iron bars. For some reason, it was shaped like a biological human heart. It even beated like one. As he put it on he table, he seemed to notice something. There was a keyhole.

"We need the key to this thing first!", complained the doctor.

Overhearing them, Sora seemed light up in interest. Donald seemed to notice.

"You're really gonna unlock it for them?", said Donald.

"Why not? If they succeed, we won't have to fight the Heartless, right? Besides, I want to see the Heartless dance, too. Don't you?"

"Not really."

"Wait.", Goofy said. "Wouldn't we be 'meddling' already?"

"Well, not meddling didn't exactly go well so far. Also, they seem to know what the Heartless are."

Sora then approached the heart, and the two in the room noticed us.

"Who are you?", the doctor asked.

"I can help.", Sora offered as he summoned the Keyblade. "My key here can open anything with a lock." He then tapped the heart with it and it reacted with a clicking noise.

"My! That was amazing!", Jack said as he came over. "Uh, and you are…"

"Sora." The Key Bearer intrroduced himself. He then introduced the rest of us as we waved accordingly.

"Well done, Sora! I'd like you to be part of this year's Halloween."

"What's this Heartless doing here?", I inquired as I noticed Yoris roam around in interest.

"Oh, the Heartless came to town just recently.", Jack explained. "What's frustrating is I can't get them to dance with me. So Dr. Finklestein and I are trying to improve the guidance system. He's quite a genius!" He gestured to Dr. Finkelstein, then turned to him. "Okay, Doctor, let's continue. The ingredients for a heart: Pulse." There was a live frog croaking desperately. "Emotion. Terror." A black spider wiggled its legs. "Fear." Dr. Finklestein put his hand on a glass pane and scratched it, making a disturbing noise. "Hope and despair." Two snakes were trying to eat each other. "Mix them all together, and we have a heart!"

"A heart ideal for this experiment to be exact.", mused Gregorio.

Dr. Finkelstein somehow put in the 'ingredients' , picked up the heart, moved his electric wheelchair to the lever, passing by a table where he dropped off the heart, then activated the lever. Electricity coursed through it and the various machinery around sarted to react. The 'test subject' got up, but then it crashed and dissipated like any other Heartless.

"It failed!" Jack lamented.

Dr. Finkelstein seemed to think about the error, "Maybe we're missing some ingredients. Let's try adding memory." He then flipped his skull open via a hinge in the back of his head, exposing a pink brain, which he scratched in an attempt to figure it out. "Sally!", he called out. "Sally!" When nobody came, he turned around. "Good-for-nothing girl! Don't know why I bothered creating her!" He then closed the lid on his head. "Sally's got the memory we need. See if you can track her down."

"No problem.", Jack said as he then turned to us. "Sora, would you like to come along?"

The Key Bearer immediately accepted. "Sure." Donald turned to him and tapped his foot with a cross face.

"Hey…is this…"

We turned to Yoris, who pulled out a page.

Dr. Finklestein turned to him angrily and started to approach him. "Hey! That's mi—" He then stopped short. "Fine, take it. It's worthless." He turned back to the book. "Don't know why I even bothered taking it out of the chest I found it in!"

"Chest?", Sora wondered as Yoris came over. After looking at the sheet, his eyes widened. "Another lost page!"

"Lost page?", Jack asked.

"Uhh, we're looking for pages for somebody."

"Okay.", he said, quickly getting back to the task at hand. "Let's go."

We headed out of the lab, only to see the mayor at the doorway where we entered. This time, his face was now bone-white and had a mouth set in a permanent frown (the teeth of which were pointed) with green lips and yellow eyes.

"Jack! Jack!", he cried out through his megaphone. "We have a major crisis! The Heartless are completely out of control! We can't stop them!"

We descended the steps and faced the mayor. Jack then scratched his head, thinking.

"Hmm… Maybe our experiment triggered something.", he said. He then assured, "Everything will be fine, Mayor. You have nothing to worry about."

Once again, Donald turned and tapped his foot. Shrugging, we crossed the door back to the square…and the Search Ghosts were there, itching for a fight. They were accompanied by Shadows and Soldiers, who were faded and ashen just like the rest of Halloween Town.

"Just wondering…", Yoris asked Jack. "What are your battle capabilities?" He was answered with an ignited pumpkinhead eliminating one Search Ghost. "Oh."

We went around the square, fighting Heartless. On one occasion, Goofy jumped through the guillotine in the middle of the square. A Soldier followed him, only for the blade to come down on it with predictable results.

Once they were all gone, I asked Jack, "Where are we supposed to go again?"

"The Graveyard. Follow me."

Part II. Parts for the Heart

We followed his lead as he took us to another gate, which he opened. We crossed the gate as it then closed behind us.

"Let's check this place, too, once the Heartless here are out of our way.", said Sora.

Suddenly, Shadow Heartless appeared. Joining them were a new kind. Their grayish-blue skinned, almost skeletal figures were wrapped in patches of white gauze bandages. Their heads were completely covered in them, save for a gap revealing a bright yellow eye in a shadowed face, and their "plume", a simple angular-spiraled antenna. They also had a "ribcage" of six sharp barbs surrounding their chest and Heartless emblem, large hands, and long barbed fingers and toes.

"Wight Knight.", the Diary said from beneath my cloak. "Heartless that mostly appear in Halloween Town. Their jerky, dancelike attack moves are fairly easy to dodge, but cause large damage."

_What's with the timing of this?_, I thought. _Before, it was after the battle. Then, it was in the midst of the fight. And now, it's before we engage the enemy._

Sora just ran forward and sliced through two of the Shadows but had to jump back as a Wight Knight swiped at him.

Jack showed amazing physical strength as he punched a Wight Knight into the air, then grabbed it and slammed it into the ground, destroying it. Three Shadows jumped on him and started clawing away, but Jack just spun around and raised his hands into the air, calling down thunder bolts, which smote them into oblivion.

Goofy blocked a strike from a Wight Knight with his shield. Another was about to attack his back, but Gregorio came in with a thrust of his javelin. Donald ran forward and bashed a Heartless in the head with his staff and then twirled around and cast Fira on an approaching Wight Knight. A group of Wight Knights came jumping at him but they were stopped by an electric sphere launched by Yoris.

I finished up the last Wight Knight by making a risky point-blank headshot. Once that was over with, something appeared from behind a gravestone. It was a ghostly dog that appeared to be made of a white sheet. It had floppy ears, empty holes for eyes, a very long and thin snout, upper jaw curled upward at the tip, a small jack-o-lantern on its nose, and a faded brown collar.

Jack came over and said, "Zero! Have you seen Sally anywhere?"

The ghost dog Zero flew about, and we almost couldn't see him because of the big yellow moon. We managed to see him fly to a gravestone with a gargoyle statue on top. From it emerged somebody. It was a human-sized female rag doll with pale blue skin. She was closer to resemblng a human being than anybody else we've seen in Halloween Town so far, although her neck was long and her hands and feet rather small. There were stitches all over her, including one on each corner of her mouth, which made her look as if she was sporting a smile like Jack's. She wore red lipstick and nail-polish, had long eyelashes, and her feet were covered by black shoes, worn over baggy, black-and-white striped socks. Her long, brown hair reached down to her hips and was parted in the middle.

Her clothing consisted of a worn, tattered dress made of many different scraps of cloth sewn together. While it's mostly pale pink and grey, her dress had small areas of yellow and green near around her left and right shoulders, respectively, and each individual patch was covered in a unique black or grey pattern.

"Is something wrong, Jack?", the rag doll asked. We now knew this was Sally.

"No, everything's going great.", Jack replied. "We're going to have the best Halloween ever. All we need now is your memory."

"Memory? You mean this?" Sally held up a flower that Yoris identified as a forget-me-not. Jack received the flower and turned to his right, looking at it as if it was the most beautiful thing in the world. "Jack, I have a bad feeling about this. Why don't you try something else? There's still time."

Jack didn't seem to be listening. "Nothing could beat what I've got planned!" He then turned back to Sally. "Once we give the Heartless a heart, they'll dance just as I envision it." Sally seemed to be genuinely worried, as if things could go wrong, and I knew that—when it comes to the Heartless—they **will** go wrong. "Trust me. You're going to love it!" He then turned to us and gestured that we continue. We then left the graveyard and returned to the town. Sally and Zero followed shortly after. Just then, I entered 'vision mode' once again.

I was back in the graveyard, facing the moon. Just then, I heard laughing from the coffin in front, next to the pedestal Sally hid behind earlier. The lid then shook for a while before opening. Three kids popped out of the coffin.

One was dressed as a devil, wearing a plain, long-sleeved, tattered red shirt, pants of the same color, brown shoes with pointed toes curling upward, and pale orange gloves. His mask was a faded red devil's face with horns that curved upward. The mask's mouth is curled into a ghastly smile, showing sharp teeth. His outfit was completed by a red, pointed tail, though it is unclear whether or not this is an accessory.

"Lock!", he yelled as he popped out.

The second was taller than whom I assumed was Lock and was thinner, dressed up as a witch, wearing a purple witch's hat about the same height as her (as least I assumed it was a girl). Her hair was wiry and blue, and her mask was a plain grey-green one sporting a large pointed nose, and a mouth set in a deep frown. She wore a pink dress with a dark purple hem, as well as black boots and dark purple gloves.

"Shock!", she shrieked as she popped out after Lock.

The third was shorter and the most rotund of them, dressed up like a skeleton, wearing tattered purple pants and a like-colored shirt, which were decorated with bones roughly corresponding to their locations in the human body. He wore a skull mask, which was simple, round, and white mask with the mouth being bare teeth set in a wide grin.

"Barrel!", he cried out as he joined his 'amigos'.

A second later, a very familiar figure came out of the coffin, although not as energetically as the kids. It was another of the Maleficent's minions dressed up like Xin, but his armor looked more menacing and made me think of an undead samurai. He had a silver mask on that made him more scary-looking.

"Did we really have to hide inside that stuffy coffin?", he asked the kids.

"Did you hear that?", Barrel asked his friends, ignoring Ji.

"Yeah, I sure did!", agreed Lock. "A heart! What should we do?"

"Gosh, you really are stupid!", Shock berated. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Tell Oogie Boogie.", said Barrel as the three of them cackled.

Behind them, Ji sighed and seemed to be making a mental note of some kind. "Why oh why did I even get stuck with doing duties with Oogie. Geng's cruising in a pirate ship with Captain Hook, Xin likes making plans with Maleficent if one knows what I mean, and all the others, led by Autumnus and that oaf Pete, are off gathering a Heartless army." (2)

Suddenly, the vision ended as we made it back to Dr. Finklestein's lab. For some reason, no Heartless have appeared in the square en route. Once entering the area between the stairs and the doctor's place, that's where Sally stopped and waited. Jack noticed my spaced-out moment and questioned Sora about it, who said it's a common habit.

We entered the lab, where Dr. Finklestein was, with another Search Ghost on the table. We came over and Jack handed over the flower to him. I felt this exchange as strange since flowers were usually given in a romantic manner and not as deliveries.

"Yes. This is it.", he said as he somehow placed the forget-me-not inside the artificial heart. "Now, just one more ingredient. We need 'surprise' to complete the heart. The mayor should know where it is."

Suddenly, I entered 'vision mode' once again. This time, 'I' was in a strange home. 'I' saw the three kids shivering and hugging each other as they faced a strange entity who was laughing evilly. Ji knelt in front of the entity as if it was his superior.

This entity was covered from head to toe in a grey burlap sack, an obvious seam visible along the sides. This entity was quite rotund, with stumpy legs and fingerless arms. Like Jack, the 'eyes' in its head were featureless black holes, as is the inside of its mouth. The tip of its head extendsed outward and flopped down.

"A heart?", said the entity. "That bonehead Jack is really making a heart? I'll be jiggered! That works for me! Ohh, when I get my hands on that… Well, I've got no hands, but I'm still gonna nab that heart and control the Heartless." It then cackled madly as the kids shivered in fright.

"There's more, Oogie Boogie.", reported Ji. "The Key Bearer and his friends are here in Halloween Town as well. You know what that means, right?"

"Right! I'll take them down, and Maleficent will be pleased!"

"…Not exactly what Ji expected you to say, but that's a great plan anyway."

Suddenly, my perspective shifted back to my real self. This time, we were at the Graveyard, where my companions were playing charades with White Mushrooms. They managed to make correct guesses and we obtained a lot of good stuff. After the Heartless left, we decided to inspect the coffin.

"This coffin should take us to the Boneyard.", Jack explained as he opened the cover. Instead of a body, there was a tunnel inside the coffin. "Well, let's go."

Sighing, we did as he said and seconds later, we emerged in a different place. This place had a giant jack o' lantern, a statue of it on a stand, and a mass of tombstones. The Mayor was there too, as if he was just waiting for us. Jack came over and inquired with him about Dr. Finklestein's task. The Mayor seemed to know what the "surprise" was and told us how to get it.

"Ghosts rise from those tombstones.", he said as he gestured to the mass of tombstones. "Check the tombstones in the order the ghosts appear. If you get it wrong, you're in for a surprise!"

Seconds after he said that, a ghost popped out from a tombstone. Then another. And another. And another. Yoris immediately approached the tombstones and examined them in the order the glosts popped out. As he looked at the last one, there was an explosion from behind, surprising us.

"Splendid!", said the Mayor. "Now go look at the pumpkin."

We all turned to the pumpkin. Or at least what was left of it. Inside was a toy that I recognized as a jack-in-the-box. Sora came over and picked it up. He then came over to me and put it in my bag, which was outside the cloak I wore.

"Now how do we get back?", Donald asked Jack.

"This way." The skeleton led us to a statue of sorts with a pumpkin on top. He then pushed a panel in front and a trap door opened beneath us. Next thing we knew, we were back at the graveyard, popping out of the coffin…and encountering half a dozen Wight Knights.

"We have no time for this!", I complained as I raised my shield arm and activated one of my Power Orbs. In an instant, crosshairs locked onto the Wight Knights' arms. Then shots came from nowhere and struck there. They were rendered unable to attack. "I've disabled them! Let's get this over with!"

Immediately, we made quick work of the Wight Knights. Once they were gone, we hurried all the way back to Dr. Finklestein's lab. Once inside, we showed him the jack-in-the-box.

"Yes. This is it. ", he said.

KHKHKHKHKH

Later, after Dr. Finkelstein gathered all the remaining ingredients together, he put them inside the artificial heart, which continued to beat.

"There you go.", he said. "This time it's sure to work."

He then proceeded to the table where he placed the heart last time. However, something went in his way. It was a short fat kid in a skeleton costume. Dr. Finkelstein's electric wheelchair tipped and the doctor fell over, the heart bouncing in the metal floor before landing in the hands of a kid in a devil costume, who was beside another kid in a witch costume. With them was a man in green samurai clothing and a halberd.

"Hurry up, Barrel!", the latter said.

The the one who tripped up the doctor joined him and the other two kids and they then fled through the door in which we came in.

"After them!", Dr. Finkletein cried out.

We wasted no time and quickly scrambled our way out of his lab and into Guillotine Square. However, there was no sign of the thieves.

"Aw! We lost them!", complained Sora.

Jack Skellington looked as calm as ever and then tapped his left leg twice. In seconds, Zero came over from the gate leading to the Graveyard.

"Zero, after them, quick!", he ordered.

"Are you sure he knows?", Yoris asked.

"Don't worry. He's been helping me chase them for quite some time."

Suddenly, just as we were about to follow, Heartless appeared. However, these kinds were different. They were fairly rough around the edges. Their dark grey skin was covered by a dark purple bodysuit with roughly stitched-on light purple sleeves ending in a gold zig-zag trim and jagged edges. The purple color extended to cover the head and horns, and the horns also featured black stripes. Like other Heartless, they had golden eyes and a craggy maw. Their talons were long, and their dark grey feet were spindly and two-toed. Their leather-like wings were also pointy and sharp, particularly the tops which resembled spearheads.

"Gargoyle.", said the Diary. "Winged Heartless that mostly appear in Halloween Town. They can move from one place to another almost without notice. Since they are prone to sneak attacks, they often get caught off guard by counterattacks."

Just then, these Gargoyles turned into blue wisps and flew around the area. We decided not to waste time on them and follow Zero. Along the way, these wisps turned back into Gargoyles and struck us from behind and the sides. Whenever that happened, we dealt with them swiftly. When we entered the Graveyard, we encountered more Heartless. Groaning, we fought them off. It was a tough battle, but we made it through.

We then jumped down to the coffin and ended up back in the Boneyard. Upon popping out of the tunnel, we asked Jack where to go next. He took us to the statue that was next to the once-pumpkin and pushed a panel. Suddenly, a door opened from the statue and sucked us in. We emerged into another field, which was littered with lit up jack o' lanterns, joining up with Zero, who was waiting. There was also a strange hill of some kind that Jack called Curly Hill, which was shaped like a sundae swirl. There was also Heartless, which we quickly grew tired of. We quickly eliminated them and went to the hill.

Jack went to a certain root protruding from the hill and pulled it. Suddenly, the hill uncurled its swirl, making a bridge leading to somewhere. "This way."

Part III. Oogie Boogie's Manor

We then found ourselves facing a large gateway, a bridge connecting the ground where we were across a river of sewage and into the entrance. There was also a Mushroom Heartless of some kind, although I could see stars on its cap.

"Rare Truffle.", the Diary said. "Non-attacking Heartless that are rarely found. They like to jump, so helping them stay in the air may bring good things."

"Oh. Is this another non-hostile Heartless?", Jack asked.

"Apparently yes.", I said. "But unlike the White Mushroom, we have to bounce it in the air."

"I'm up for it.", said Sora.

He approached the Rare Truffle and started bouncing it in the air. We decided to watch him do his stuff as he managed to juggle it for up to fifty times, using both keyblade attacks and Aero magic. The Truffle had been bounced far a couple of times, so he had to move around the place. When he came back to show us what he got, he received an Elixir, a Mystery Goo, and something called a Shiitake Rank. We then decided to cross the bridge and open the door in front of us. There, we saw the three kids (named Lock, Shock, and Barrel) who stole the artificial heart on a (would you believe it?) walking bathtub. They were making their way across a wooden bridge that led to a weird house so grotesque I couldn't describe it.

"I knew Oogie Boogie was behind this!", said Jack upon seeing the house. We proceeded across the bridge (which I felt very nervous in crossing), onto the solid stone steps (which I was thankful for), and through the door, where it got very confusing at this point. After a long while, we made it to the top of Oogie's Manor and opened the door. Inside, we saw Lock, Shock, and Barrel chuck the artificial heart down a chute. With them was a man in green samurai armor.

"Another of Maleficent's minions!", Donald whispered.

"Oh, you have been naughty, naughty children.", Gregorio said as he twirled his javelin.

"Wait, what?", I gasped.

"Yes. We're gonna fight these kids."

I stepped back. "Well, count me out in the fighting. Handling the other guy is fine with me."

"Oh, sorry to disappoint you, but Ji's gotta go!", said the 'samurai'. He then vanished into a bolt of lightning which zoomed out of the room.

"…Oh, great."

The kids then started to roam around the room, signalling the battle has begun. Lock started jumping around (around four times his height) and started pelting us with slingshot stones. Shock's hopping around and spinning, whcking anyone who is too close. Barrel started rolling about, tripping any of us in his way.

The fight got so frustrating that I got sick of them moving around, remembered I had a certain Power Orb, and used it. In an instant, crosshairs locked onto the kids' legs. Then shots came from nowhere and struck there. Lock and Shock stumbled over as they tripped and were unable to move. Barrel however kept rolling, but was soon stopped as he crashed into his companions.

"Glad that's over with.", Yoris sighed in relief.

KHKHKHKHKH

We rounded up the three kids, who were now seated behind the candles in the room, their masks now off. As it turned out, all of them had unhealthy (or not, considering Halloween Town's wierdness) grey skin, and sky blue lips.

Lock's eyes were yellow, his ears were set rather low on his head, and his eyebrows were the same shade of red as his clothes, his nose somewhat pointed, while the rest of his hair darker red-brown, styled much like his own mask.

Shock's hair was blue and wiry, blue makeup around her eyes, a long face and neck, and a more pointed nose than Lock.

Barrel had a very round head, short and pale green hair, a very small upturned nose, eyes that appear to be sunken in (or was that dark makeup around them making that illusion?), and oddly shaped feet, with three toes of the same length.

"We were just following orders!", Shock told us. "Oogie Boogie told us to steal the heart. It's all Barrel's fault! It was his idea to tell Oogie Boogie about the heart."

"Yeah, that's right!", Lock agreed.

"B-But you guys said—", Barrel tried to protest.

"You should be ashamed!", Shock cut in.

"I oughta beat you guys up for passing on the blame on each other. Where's Oogie Boogie?", asked Sora.

"Follow Ji. He went to the bottom of the manor. Look for a green door."

"Bottom?", Jack yelled. "I can't believe we came to the top. The villain's room is usually always at the top!"

"Well, looks like that 'trope' has been subverted.", noted Yoris.

"Trope?", I asked.

"Never mind. Let's go."

KHKHKHKHKH

After fighting off more Heartless, we made it to the bottom of the Manor, where the green door was. We also encountered the bathtub Lock, Shock, and Barrel rode along the way. When we crossed the door, we ended up in a a circular room with two levels, a higher level and a revolving platform (somewhat like a wheel) beneath it, in a pit, which reminded me of that gambling wheel where you toss a ball and hope it lands on the number you bet on. On the other side was who Jack identified as Oogie Boogie. Ji stood right next to him, holding the artificial heart on his free hand.

"Oogie Boogie, give me back the heart!", Jack demanded as he pointed one bony finger at the living stuffed sack.

Oogie just laughed maniacally. "You want it? Well, then come on over and get it!" He then grabbed the heart from Ji's hand and chucked it into his mouth, effectively swallowing it. He then laughed once again as Ji seemingly palmed his mask. "Now, let's see if I can get their attention. Oh, Heartless!" He raised his arms into the air, and we pepared for a considerable horde to appear from portal. Instead, only two Gargoyles came in. And from outside the room at that.

"This is it?", I mused as Oogie looked back and forth between the Gargoyles.

"Apparently, you don't have as much power as you think.", Sora snickered.

Oogie flew into a state of rage. "Nobody disrespects me! Nobody!"

Suddenly, the wheels that circled the platform below started to spin. Ji then planted his halberd into the floor and the barrier manifested and expanded again. Next, there was an explosion that sent us down to that platform. When we got up, I realized that Goofy was nowhere to be seen, probably evicted from the room altogether.

Oogie started by tossing flaming dice at us, which Sora and Gregorio whacked back, but Ji intercepted them and batted them away. The latter then turned into a ball of lightning and went down to the platform to engage in direct combat with us. The two who whacked back the dice accepted his challenge and charged. However, they were met by a surge of lightning from his free hand, making me think of a few particular bad guys with laser blades. (3)

"Allow Ji to tip the playing field.", he said as he snapped his fingers and more Heartless appeared. Search Ghosts, Wight Knights, and the Gargoyles summoned earlier descended to join us in battle.

"Cover me while I strike that stuffy oaf!", Yoris said as he started launching thunder balls at Oogie.

"On it!", I replied as I pressed my back to him while I repelled a Wight Knight's swing. "He's too high for me to take a shot anyway."

"How about you call for some help?", Donald wailed as he cast Thundara on Ji and the Heartless, thanks to the yellow scroll obtained back at Atlantica.

However, the thunderbolts seem to have headed straight for the samurai, who then gathered it in his free hand into a ball. He then hurled the new thunderball at Yoris, but I went in front and blocked the attack. Just then, a circle of switches in the pit began to glow. He then proceeded to run around the area above us. Sora seem to have figured out something. He went to a switch just as Oogie ended up right above him and hit it.

All of a sudden, two gates emerged from the floor and trapped Sora, Gregorio, and Donald. Ji was kept apart from one side and the rest of us on the other as the platform rose, granting them access to physically strike Oogie. Jack wasted no time going around the wheel to smack Ji rather than wait for the platform and gates to go down. Yoris continued to pelt Oogie with thunderballs, cursing himself for being able to attack with only one element…which can be absorbed by a certain opponent. As for me, I decided to go around the wheel and fight Ji as well.

Just as I prepared to cast a spell, Sora, Gregorio, and Donald were pushed back into the wheel as the platform and gates lowered. Then, the wheel began to spin, sending some of us off balance. I quickly regained it though, but I ended up too close for comfort into Ji's face. Well, his mask at least but…

"Aren't you too inexpreienced for this, boy?", Ji taunted.

I was shocked and instantly cast a spell. "Blind!" There was a brief flash and he reeled back.

"Aagh! My eyes!"

For some reason, Oogie was suffering from blindness as well. "I don't even have eyes!", he cried out.

Sora and Gregorio took this opportunity and as the gates were completely lowered, they charged and so did Jack and Donald. However, just before they could strike, Ji turned into a thunderball and quickly fled to the upper platform. Suddenly, three dice fell to the field, rolling a 3. A circulaw saw detached from its place in the field and started to spin horizontally. We all dodged it in the best way we can, whether it was jumping or dropping to the floor, the latter of which I did. After a while, the buzz saw returned to its place in the field.

Just then, the lights in the field lit up again. Once more, Sora knew what to do and hit it. This time, the gates trapped Sora and me (as well as Oogie above) and our platform rose. The Key Bearer then started to whack away at Oogie, I cast Blizzara over and over at him. While we were doing that, Ji was pelting the others with Thunder spells.

Twenty seconds later, there was that explosion again that knocked us down, which sent Sora back into the wheel. An instant after, scythes started to move down at the field. I was particularly deathly scared, even though I knew the "Barrier Jacket" that protected all of us would keep me from losing any body parts. Also, we had to dodge Ji's Thunder spells and Oogie's exploding dice.

Eventually, the scythes stopped, and we resumed pummeling Heartless, hitting switches, and whacking Oogie at every opportunity. We weren't able to hit Ji as he kept turning into a lightning ball and fleeing. It took long, but eventually, the final hit on Oogie was dealt. But from a friendly fire attack by Ji as he tried to hit Donald, and from a strong fist from Jack. Both pierced through his sack skin and things started to fall out of his body. Insects! We all backed away as Oogie lost his stuffing and his bod fell flat, leaving the artificial heart inside. Ji promptly fled in a ball of lightning, missing Goofy as he came over. We checked his remains and obtained not only that, but also what looked like a bar magnet, as well as a page of—

"The Ansem Report!", Donald whispered as he took the page and handed it to me.

"Hey! Another part!", said Gregorio as he picked up the magnet and gave it to me as well.

"So, that heart was a failure after all.", Jack said as he picked up the heart and chucked it over his head…and it somehow inexplicably landed in my hands. I sighed and stowed everything in my bag.

Part IV. Oogie's Manor and Backup

We made our way out of Oogie's manor, riding the bathtub back to the bridge, then we walked across it when all of a sudden, Lock, Shock, and Barrel ran past us. A rumble followed and we from the vibration. Also, the bridge broke and we fell down to the bottom. Luckily, Sora and Donald used Aero to cushion our fall.

We got up and turned around to see Oogie's Manor…covered in smoke. When it cleared, it was clear (ahem) that Oogie Boogie somehow fused with his manor, turning into something more grotesque than I can even begin to describe.

"Whoa! How did he get so big?", Sora gasped.

"Like nobody could see that coming.", I said with sarcasm.

"Look! It's brimming with the power of darkness!", said Jack as he pinted somewhere at the manor. "Oogie Boogie is drawing power from those dark globs!"

"So we just have to destroy those things, right?"

"Right.", agreed Yoris. "And Ji too." In the distance, at the top, we could see Ji taunting us.

"Ji is the king of the world! Woohoo!", he was yelling. "Always wanted to say that!"

All of a sudden, a horde of Heartless appeared between us and the manor. As I groaned, we charged.

Sora spun the Keyblade like he never had before. Heartless were struck down left and right but when one disappeared, two more seemed to take its place. With a mighty cry, Sora jumped deeper into the fray. Goofy batted Heartless away with his great strength. At one point, they threatened to overtake him, but with a quick spinning attack, they were blown away. A Wight Knight then charged him and Goofy did so too. Goofy won this joust, the loser sent flying back right into a Gargoyle, destroying them both.

Donald cast Aero and I cast Regen, and then we started casting magic. Donald focused more on Thundara and I cast Disable on them, minimizing the damage we were taking. I also cast Blizzara to keep them in place and bring the hurt on them.

Yoris blasted thunderballs all over the place, with Gregorio and Jack covering his back. The latter grabbed one of the Wight Knights and started spinning it around, knocking the others away. Gregorio used the skills he picked up from watching Tarzan and those green-clad halberd wielders we've always been fighting. We needed to clear a path to get through, but there were just too many Heartless.

All of a sudden, just as a horde of Gargoyles were about to overcome me, something flew through the air and sliced through them all. For a moment, time seemed to slow as I looked at the flying projectile. It was blue, had two holes in the center. When time returned to normal and my eyes to the disc's holder, I gasped in surprise.

Irvine and his company were here.

"How did you guys get here?", I cried out as the others fought off Heartless.

"Truth be told, we have no idea either!", Irvine replied. "One minute we were doing our duties, and the next we were transported here!"

"Could we get to the fighting already?", Zell interrupted. "Our friends are in trouble!"

"Tell you later!", the sniper told me. With that, the four joined the fray and we started kicking more Heartless butt.

Quistis was pulling off magnificent tricks as she swung her whip around, always somehow striking Heartless each time. She also cast a few spells, her surrounding enemies suddenly either going in flames, ice forming around them then breaking, or even a bolt striking them from above. (4)

Rinoa was nimbly dodging Wight Knight attacks as Gregorio and Goofy covered her while she waited for her disc to return. She was also holding a simple and light sword as a secondary weapon. (5)

Zell was kicking Heartless butt in all directions, performing cool yet effective martial arts attacks. Even Jack seemed to be impressed, temporarily putting aside the fact that they weren't from around here.

While, Irvine and I stood back to back as we held off a couple of Wight Knights, I decided to continue my question.

"Did you come here by Gummi Ship?", I asked.

"No. We were mysteriously teleported here just as we headed to the house that Sora told us where his friend Leon is. (6) Can we borrow the Destiny?"

"Ask Gregorio after this battle."

"Sora!", Jack called as he burnt a Search Ghost into a crisp. "The globs!"

"On it!"

"Clear a path!", he told everyone.

"You heard the skeleton!", Irvine told his friends.

Everyone started taking down heartless in a systematic manner and cleared an opening for Sora to climb, taking out dark globs as he went. Yoris also helped a bit by firing thunderballs to the globs. However, Ji wasn't about to let them just win. He turned himself into a lightning ball again and descended inbetween Sora and the next glob.

"You really expect Ji to just let you take down Oogie.", he said. "Ji's gonna find the Keyhole and consume this world into darkness!"

"Not if we can help it!", Sora replied as he locked weapons. However, Ji was physically stronger and managed to knock him off the manor. And they were up high too. I stopped and saw him fall.

"Sora!", I cried out his name. I then saw him pulled out something from his pocket and yell.

"Give me strength!"

In all of a sudden, there was a flash obscuring him from view. When the light vanished, Sora was now riding one of his summons; Dumbo. The flying elephant ascended and circled one of the big flaming lanterns around the manor, which was summoning wisps, both the small fireballs and the type that Gargoyles assume. Dumbo shot out water from his trunk, putting out the fire and encasing it in ice. Just then, a bolt came from Ji's hand, but Sora and Dumbo dodged it. Getting an idea, I decided to summon as well. I raised the bracer that held my red Power Orb.

"Lend us your power!", I invoked.

Once more, the red Power Orb glowed in my bracer and a force exploded outward, knocking down everyone in the area a little. Beams of light shot out of the floor around my feet and quickly spiraled upward, swallowing me in a spiral of blue light. When the light faded, XR was summoned and ready for action.

"XR, reporting for duty!", the robot said as he saluted me.

"XR, help Sora take out the black orbs!"

"You can count on me!" XR then revealed a rocket from his back compartment and rocketed to the rescue.

"Wow!", Jack cried out. "You guys are full of ideas! I could use all this for next Halloween!"

"Oh, brother.", Donald groaned as he palmed his face. "Such outright violation of the rules."

"Screw the rules, we're doing what's right!", said Yoris as we wiped out the remaining Heartless in the area.

"Still, I hope no one else has seen this. I'll swear Jack to secrecy later."

Back on the manor, Ji was pounded from both sides by XR's array of blasters, Dumbo's icy water surge, and Sora's Gravity magic. Once he was knocked out, the three found the last dark glob. Just before they could reach it, motes of light began to rise off Dumbo and XR, increasing in speed before they finally disappeared. Their summon time was up for now. Shrugging, Sora went to the last glob and started whacking at it with his Keyblade. However, it was much tougher than the other globs.

As he continued striking, Ji managed to get up and reach Sora. He was at his last legs now. He raised his halberd and aimed, ready to fire. Just then, Gregorio came up from behind and struck him down. Sora hadn't noticed this happen and suddenly, he dealt the final blow. Black smoke started spewing out of the seams in the burlap sack part of the manor and everything was starting to fall apart. Sora turned to run, then saw Gregorio, who took his hand, and they both jumped from the crumbling manor. Gregorio had his javelin on the ready, just about to land on a group of Gargoyles remaining in the area.

Yoris saw what his friend intended and told everyone to stand back. To my surprise, everyone followed without hesitation and Gregorio landed with Sora on the Heartless, each of them breaking their fall as they were eliminated.

"Woo-hoo!", Zell cried out as Sora got off Gregorio. "That was intense!"

"I'll have to agree.", said Quistis. "Been quite some time since we've fought off Heartless this many. Although that last time was when we escaped our world."

Just then, I saw something fly out of the soon-to-be-ruins and right into my hands. It was a small pouch. I looked inside to see three Power Orbs, one with three Z's, a blue clock, and an orange clock. Donald later told me they were Sleep, Slow, and Haste. I also found a teal orb with what looked like a bird, as well as a purple scroll bigger than the last one. I figured that the teal orb was a summon gem as I stowed them in my bag.

Before Jack could consider asking for the names of our 'backup', Donald held him and pulled him off somewhere to tell him something, most likely for him to keep the whole affair of our unintended backup secret from the rest of Halloween Town. The mayhem of the Heartless was enough. Just after Donald managed that, there was a glow in the ground that came from the smoke and rubble that was once the mansion.

"Hey…isn't that…", Irvine managed to say.

"The Keyhole.", Sora said.

It was large, and was outlined in blue. How was Sora supposed to lock that? I got my answer as he raised his Keyblade upward. As usual, stars began to converge into it as it gathered power. Then, he shot it skyward straight for the moon. Just as it reached the Keyhole however the beam broke into a shower of them that hit the Keyhole's edges. There was a locking noise, and the Keyhole disappeared.

"So that's what locking a Keyhole is like.", Rinoa mused.

"Oh, right." Irvine turned to Gregorio, somehow recognizing him despite the form change. Speaking of which, I turned to Donald, about to ask him that same thing but the duck noticed and motioned to his staff. I remembered that it was from his magic that we assumed our current forms.

"May we borrow the Destiny?", the sniper asked.

"Okay. Sure." Gregorio handed him the teleportation device and instructed him on using it.

"Well, se ya.", Zell said as he, Rinoa, and Quistis grabbed hold of Irvine and they teleported to our Gummi Ship. Well, the Gummi Ship Choson One loaned to Gregorio and Yoris. After a while, Sora turned to everyone left in the ditch where Oogie's manor once was.

"Well, let's head back.", he said. "Lead the way, Jack."

"You rhyme, Sora.", Yoris muttered.

KHKHKHKHKH

Back at Dr. Finklestein's lab…

"Sally, why didn't I listen to you?", Jack apologized.

"Don't feel bad, Jack.", the rag doll assured. "We'll come up with another plan for Halloween." She then held his hands. "Next time, we'll do it together."

Jack then turned to the rest of us as we stood near the door. "I guess we have no choice.", he said. "We'll have to cancel the Heartless Haloween festival for now." He then turned to Sora. "Here. I want you to have this." Sora received a keychain. The chain seemed to be made of iron and has a jack o' lantern linked on one end as the token. "Visit us any time, Sora. Next year's Halloween will be the scariest ever!"

"Emotion, memory…", Dr. Finklestein was musing as he continued to work. "We put in all the necessary ingredients." He then turned his wheelchair around. "What else do you need to make a heart? What is a heart, anyway? I can't figure it out."

"A heart is an organ of a living being that pumps blood through the body.", Yoris pointed out as he walked to the table, taking out a pouch of some kind. He wanted to leave some paopus, even though they might not be able to grow in a desolate place like Halloween Town. "Or do you mean the 'other' kind of heart?" Dr. Finklestein didn't answer.

"Well, we better get going now.", said Gregorio, then whispered to Sora. "Where'd you park the Excalibur?"

"Just out of town." Sora then turned back to Jack. "See ya." After Yoris left the pouch (and a note) in a place where it can be found a while later, we made our way out of the lab.

Just as we left, I thought I could see Donald turn back one more time.

Gummi Ship Time: Teleporters

We walked through the gates and out of Halloween Town. After a while, we could see the parked Excalibur. The model had been changed so I wasn't able to spot it at first. For some reason, It was decided that it'd be the _Aerith_ model they got from Geppetto. Speaking of which, he also devised his own model and so did Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and (of course) Cid. Thanks to a special "program" that Cid owned, anybody can customize their own Gummi Ship. They just need an existing one to change. Else, it's just like playing with LEGO; you can make it, but you can't use it, or something like that.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel stood dangerously near the ship, although they haven't noticed it yet. Or at least that's what they looked like they were doing. We made our way around to the cockpit, passing by the three kids as we went.

"You kids behave yourselves now.", said Gregorio as we went to the other side. Donald pulled out a remote from out of nowhere (like with his staff) and pushed it.

The entrance began to appear on the ship. Bright white light seeped through newly opened cracks on the ship's surface, outlining the doorway. The outlined shape then popped out of the surface of the ship and began to lower to the ground, creating a ramp into the ship. Air rushed in as the door opened, and light exploded from inside the ship. After it faded in a while, we quickly entered the ship and Donald closed the door behind us. He then took out his staff, twirled it about, and in a flash we were turned back to normal.

"Thank goodness for that!", sighed Yoris as we made our way to the cockpit, despite the fact that there were only three seats there.

"Fasten your seatbelts, everyone!", Donald said as he beat Sora to the driver's seat. "If you don't have a seat, better brace yourself!"

"Engines at full throttle!", we heard Chip say from below.

"Aye-aye, sir!", replied Dale, who was there as well.

"To the stars!", cried out the court wizard.

In a minute, we were sailing across the cosmos once more.

"You know…", I decided to start, which was ususual for me as I don't really start conversations. "I've been wondering about the teleportation system of the Transwarp Room in the Destiny."

"What about?", Yoris asked.

"Well, I'm concerned on what it actually does. Does it really transport us to our destination, or disintegrate-us-here-and-reassemble-there, because if it's the latter, then how is the 'new' Sora still eligible for the Keyblade? But I'm being too technical on the subject."

"How am I dragged into this?", the Key Bearer asked as he changed his Keyblade's keychain once more.

"Well, you, Donald, and Goofy used our teleporter, right?" Sora's Keyblade changed into something entirely black and grey in color. It had a simple handle, a facsimile of Jack's head adorning the hilt, and a jagged guard with thin, white veins modeled after Jack's bowtie. The shaft was thin and long, and the teeth resembled a stylized bat hanging from the blade.

"Right?", Sora agreed.

"So, if our teleporter is the disintegrate-and-reassemble-type, then it means the teleportee is effectively killed and a completely biologically perfect replacement of him is created at the new destination. If that is the case, what happens to the teleportee's soul? Or Heart? Is it really replicated along with the body and mind?"

Donald and Goofy seemed to be speechless with horror. The silence was awkward. Truth be told, I didn't even know why I brought up the subject.

"…W-w-w-w-well…", Donald composed himself to speak. "I'm glad all the teleportations Goofy and I've been through so far have been magical."

"Uhh…are you sure?", Goofy asked.

Donald then stopped again, horror back into his face. "Oh…right."

"I-I-I'll just go under the assumption that teleporters do the former; really transport us.", Gregorio stated. "Even if we are taken to and from a different dimension in the process."

"Like a wormhole?", Yoris asked.

"Yeah."

"Like the warp drive option our Gummi Ships have?", Sora asked.

"Yeah."

"Come to think of it, we haven't used it yet."

"What are you talking about?", Donald argued. "We just used it last time, remember?"

"Oh, right."

"Where to next?", Gregorio asked.

"Let's see…Wak!"

"What's wrong, Donald?", Sora wanted to know.

"There's something huge headed our way from behind us."

"Monstro?", Goofy asked.

"No. Something like…like…" Something then flew right past us. From what I could see, I could tell that it was a wooden ship. It was big, had a couple of sails, which were useless as we were in space, a slightly translucent sphere surrounding it, and a black skull-and-crossbones flag. "A pirate ship!"

Said ship quickly turned around in what looked like an attempt to board us.

"It's going to ram us! Hold on tight!", Sora gasped.

"How could they even try boarding us?", I asked. "It's not like—wait! What is that?"

Someone on the crow's nest of the ship was priming a special cannon of some kind. The person there aimed it at us and fired a red beam not unlike Jafar's and it struck our ship. All the systems went haywire and we were all knocked unconscious.

KHKHKHKHKH

In dreamland, I was hearing those two voices again. I neve thought it'd happen again. Last time, this happened in Destiny Islands.

_"Was it really necessary to bring up the subject of teleporters, sir?"_

_"Not really, son. But I thought it better be brought up sooner or later."_

_"Seriously, sir?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"Nothing else you can talk about, soldier?"_

_"Nope."_

**Jack Skellington**

_The pumpkin king. He loves to scare people out of their wits. Headstrong, confident, and likes grand gestures. Now he's working night and day to make this year's Halloween festival the greatest ever._

_He scared up some fun in "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)._

**Sally**

_Dr. Finkelstein's creation. She's patched together from parts that sometimes come off and move about on their own. She loves Jack and tries to steer him in the right direction, though it doesn't always work._

_She appeared in "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)._

**Dr. Finklestein**

_The mad scientist who created a "heart" to help Jack control the Heartless' dancing. Sally is another of his creations. She helps him around the lab, but she'd much rather spend time with Jack._

_He created some scares in "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)._

While Kingdom Hearts II serves as the Doctor's name's first mention in a voiced cutscene, it is mispronounced, Jack calling him "Finkel-steen" rather than the film's version of the name, "Finkel-stine."

**Zero**

_Jack's ghost dog. He comes out of his grave whenever Jack calls. He's very loyal to his master and loves it when Jack plays with him._

_He loyally followed Jack in "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)._

**The Mayor**

_The two-faced mayor of Halloween Town. He switches from his happy face to his sad face depending on his mood, which changes constantly. He's working with Jack to make this year's festival the best ever._

_He appeared in "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)._

**Lock**

_The ringleader of the trio that includes Shock and Barrel. Their walking bathtub helps them get around while they commit all kinds of mischief. They sometimes help Oogie, but they're not really fond of him._

_He created havoc in "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)._

**Shock**

_Along with Lock and Barrel, she's part of Oogie Boogie's plot to take over Halloween Town. Shock is the most cunning member of the trio. She keeps her cool when the other two are losing it._

_She created havoc in "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)._

**Barrel**

_A member of the trio that includes Lock and Shock. He's a little slow, and often ends up as the butt of his partners' pranks and practical jokes._

_He created havoc in "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)._

**Ji**

_One of Maleficent's minions who was assigned with Oogie Boogie. He has a tendency of speaking in the third person and is proficient in the use of Thunder magic, even able to turn into a ball of it for transportation._

**Oogie Boogie**

_The villain who tried to take over Halloween Town. The heart he stole from Dr. Finkelstein attracted the Heartless, and the result was his doom._

_He came apart at the seams in "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)._

(1) I decided to change the costumes Gregorio and Yoris just to make a "Call Forward" to their true forms. Same goes for their forms in Atlantica.

(2) Decided I'd mention them already as another Call Forward.

(3) It's aligned with the dark side. Usually.

(4) A reference to the spell animations in _Final Fantasy VIII_.

(5) Took this idea from the fan video series _Dead Fantasy_.

(6) The Story Crew is on desperate and utterly ridiculous measures just to keep Leon away from them.

-See ya on Third.-


	16. Chapter 13: Neverland

Bertie: Did you in any way use some concepts from Captain America as a basis of your character?

nightelf37: Perhaps I was inspired partly by him, Bertie. After all, such a mighty shield.

Bertie: You like being defensive, huh?

nightelf37: Yeah. Offense being second.

Bertie: If you ask me, you're too lax.

nightelf37: Yes, I am. It's one of the weaknesses of the true me. Remember, the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there (or the manga), or even the movie where the current world is based on, I 'own' it. And here is 'my' current Power Orb inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Cure, Esuna, Regen, Silence, Fira, Thundara, Sleep, Slow, Haste

(skills) Shield Boomer, Aura Wave

(summons)

In storage:

(spells) Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Aero, Gravity, Poison, Stop, Charm, Confuse, Protect, Shell, Dispel, Blizzara, Blind, Immobilize, Disable

(skills) Sky Dropper, Boomer Blast, Yoyo Shot

(summons) Baloo, XR, Bahamut (with Merlin), ? (not yet activated)

Chapter 13: Neverland

Part I. Ties Severed

I woke up with a start. I lay on a wooden floor. As I got up and surveyed my surroundings, I realized we were now on the pirate ship that attacked the Excalibur. I then also saw Sora, who was still out cold. Immediately, I came to his assistance.

"Sora, are you okay?", I asked. He stirred and he got up.

"I'm fine. Thanks."

"Good. Somehow, the pirates managed to take down our Gummi Ship and took us out. I'm sure that beam they used helped them at doing that."

"Didn't think you two'd come here.", a familiar voice came. The two of us immediately turned around to face Riku and WIndelle, the latter having spoken. They were in the deck level above us. "Good to see you again."

"Where're the others?" I asked. "Donald, Goofy, Gregorio, and Yoris."

"Are they that important to you?", Riku asked. "More important than old friends?"

"Old friends?", Sora cried out in anger. "Gregorio and Yoris have been your friends for as long as they have been mine!"

"I haven't been friends with you any longer than I have been with them!", I added. But Riku wasn't listening at all. Neither was WIndelle.

"Instead of worrying about them," Riku continued. "You should be asking…about her."

The two stepped aside and revealed…a not-so-well Kairi, and an unconscious Florina.

"Florina! Kairi!", both Sora and I gasped.

"That's right.", Windelle answered. "While you guys were off goofing around, we finally found them."

_We were not goofing around!_, I thought. _Our Gummi Ships run on happiness. Negative emotions drain it. And when that happens, we wouldn't even be able to search. And we __**have**__ been searching. One world at a time, looking for clues. How can you say that? How can you say we've just been goofing around?_

Just then, I saw Sora run forward, but was then stopped by a hooked hand.

"Not so fast.", the hook's owner said. "No shenanigans aboard my vessel, boy."

The hook's owner was a thin man with curly, black, shoulder-length hair draping over his shoulders, a large, hooked nose, a thin, black mustache angling upward, and a large chin. He wore a frilly white shirt under a red coat. Each of its maroon cuffs sported two yellow buttons. There was also an orange sash over his right shoulder holding his sword scabbard at his left hip, which held a rapier with a gold handle and guard. He also wore maroon pants and white, knee-high socks, as well as black shoes. On his head was a large, maroon hat with a huge, white feather.

Nex to him were two people. One was a short, rotund man with an odd, hourglass-shaped head. He had shoulder-length, white hair, and thick, black eyebrows. His eyes were black and close-set, and often half-closed. His nose was large and pink, and so was the rest of his skin. In terms of clothing, He wore what seemed to be very simple, brown sandals, a short-sleeved shirt with alternating sky blue and white horizontal stripes, and teal shorts. He also wore half-moon spectacles and a floppy, conical, red hat with a red puffball on the tip.

As for the other, he wore clothes (and wielded a halberd) we both knew meant bad news. It was another of Maleficent's minions. This pirate captain was probably one too. My guesses were right as Heartless appeared alongside them and surrounded the two of us.

They seemed to be pirates, but I could tell from the dark skin, toothy jaw, and the fact that they appeared in the same manner as Heartless that they were "one of them". They were bare-chested on their bellies and wore black turtleneck shirts stitched into their chests, covering their upper torsos, save for their emblem in between. They were also clad in in brown and tan-patched pants and matching shoes. They wore red bandannas on their heads covering their eyes; in place of one eye was a black eyepatch with a white cross on it, while in place of the other was an angular black spiral.

"Pirate.", said the Diary. "Heartless that mostly appear in Neverland. They are quite combative with their swords. They often just focus on the enemies in front, making them vulnerable to attacks from behind."

"Riku, Windelle, why are you siding with the Heartless?", Sora asked as I was pushed over to him.

"The Heartless obey us now, Sora.", Riku replied. "Now we have nothing to fear."

"Huh? What're you talking about?" My mind flashed back to those we have fought. Clayton, Jafar, Ursula, and possibly Oogie. All of them succumbed to the darkness after we defeated them. "You're stupid! Sooner or later they'll swallow your heart."

"Not a chance. My heart's too strong."

"Riku…"

_That's what they all say._, I thought. _It's only a matter of time._

"We picked up a few other tricks too.", Windelle finally spoke up, although his voice seemed…wrong. "Like this, for instance."

He raised a hand forth and from it emerged two pitch-black silhouettes. They were shaped exactly like us, complete with clothing, hair, everything. However, they did not possess the glowing yellow eyes of other Heartless. We could only widen our eyes and open our mouths in disbelief.

"You can go see your friends now.", Riku said as he and Windelle turned away. All of a sudden, a trap door opened underneath us and Sora and I naturally fell in through it. However, something peculiar happened. When my body fell in, I seemed to have entered 'vision mode' immediately after. 'I' was still where I once stood, even though there was a hole underneath 'me'. 'I' looked up at Windelle and Riku.

"Let's get under way already.", said Windelle. "And keep them away from the girls until we're ready to land." With that, the two left my sight.

The pirate captain turned to the other two with him with a humph.

"That scurvy brat thinks he can order me around!", he complained.

"What shall we do, Captain Hook?", asked the short man.

"Nothing! The hold is crawling with Heartless." Captain Hook made a couple of creepy motions with his hands. "Let them keep an eye on the brats."

"But, Captain, you-know-who is also down—"

"Shh… Did you hear that, Smee?" Captain Hook seemed to be shaking in his boots. "Oh, that dreadful sound!"

"No, Captain.", the short one replied.

Hook grabbed Smee's shoulders and shook them.

"Are you quite sure? Did I imagine it? Oh, my poor nerves…"

"Was it a ticking clock?", asked the samurai.

"Oh, that's it, Geng!", Hook answered as he entered a hysterical state.

Suddenly, 'vision mode' ended as 'I' returned to…wherever I was now.

"You don't say?", Gregorio said.

"Yeah, it was definitely Kairi.", Sora was saying. "I've finally found her."

"All right!", Goofy said. "Then let's go up and talk to her."

"Yeah! Florina's there too."

"Sounds great. Okay.", said Yoris.

"But first…how about getting off!", Donald demanded.

The six of us were piled up one on top of the other. Sora was below me, and below him were Goofy, Gregorio, Yoris, and finally Donald at the bottom.

"Oh, sorry.", I said.

Immediately, we got off of one another and surveyed our surroundings. We seemed to be in a room of some kind inside the ship. There were crates and barrels inside with us. The way out was through a door. It had a slide of some kind for peering through. And past the door were Pirate Heartless. While we can deal with them easily, the door was blocked by something. I assumed it was a wooden board and not a lock as the latter could be easily solved by the Keyblade. Just then, a voice came from behind us.

"Ahem! How ya doin' there? Looking for a way out?", it asked.

We turned to the barrels and out came a boy in a light green tunic, tights, and cap (with a red feather on it). His hair was short and orange, his eyebrows black, his skin pale, his eyes brown, and his ears pointy. He also wore tan, pointed shoes and a thin, brown strap around his waist, holding a dagger. He seemed to be hovering in the air, like he was flying.

"Who are you?", Goofy asked.

"I'm the answer to your prayers.", the boy answered. We all stared at him blankly, Donald tapping his foot.

"Oh, really?", Gregorio said.

"Okay, then. Fine. Have it your way."

"But you're stuck in here, too, aren't you?", Sora asked the boy.

The boy turned aside and folded his arms. "No. I'm just waiting for someone."

"Who?", I asked.

All of a sudden, a golden ball of light flew through the peephole and circled us before stopping at the boy's face.

"Tinker Bell, what took you so long?", asked the boy.

The light imploded to reveal a tiny pixie. Her hair was blonde, tied into a bun on the top of her head by a blue ribbon. She had pale skin, black eyebrows, and blue eyes and wings. She wore a short, green, strapless dress and green slippers, each sporting a white puffball on the front. She also had a gold aura around her, seemingly emitting some kind of magic. She seemed to speak as the boy seemed to nod , although we couldn't hear anything from the pixie.

"Great job.", the boy replied. "So you found Wendy?"

Tinker Bell answered with some more twinkling.

"Hold on. There are two more girls there, too?"

Tinker Bell nodded and there was more twinkling.

"Are you crazy? There is no way I'm gonna leave Wendy there!"

"Aha. She must be pretty jealous.", Donald said with a laugh.

Tinker Bell turned around, taking offense, flew to Donald, and kciked him in the beak, rendering him dizzy for a few seconds. She then flew out of the peephole.

"Come on, Tink!", said the boy. "Open up the door!"

"Ahem!", I cleared my throat. He turned his attention to us as we anticipated an introduction.

"I'm Peter Pan.", the boy introduced himself as he stretched out a hand.

"I'm Sora." The Key Bearer was about to shake his hand when Peter Pan suddenly pulled his away.

"Okay, we're in this together, but only 'til we find Wendy."

"Fair enough.", said Gregorio as the rest of us introduced ourselves.

Just as we exited the hold where we were imprisoned in, the wardens were already on the way to take us down. In short, Pirate Heartless appeared.

"Uh oh.", Yoris groaned.

"We don't have time for this.", Peter Pan complained as he took out his dagger.

"Time?", I asked. I then held up my bracer, ready to invoke a spell. "Slow!"

All of a sudden, blue clocks appeared over the Heartless' heads and they seemed to go sluggish, as if time itself was manipulated around them. We went past the Pirates and just as we made it to another part of the ship, more Pirates appeared. This time, along with Shadows, there was another kind with them.

They were dressed very much in a pirate-like fashion, wearing a blue-and-white striped head scarf, a light blue neck wrap, bright blue baggy pants, and long, narrow black shoes with brown straps. They featured the same yellow eyes, shadowed face, and jagged blue jaw of the Soldier. They also boasted a trim blue-skinned torso, and bright purple wings.

"Air Pirate.", said the Diary. "Winged Heartless that mostly appear in Neverland. They are extremely combative and are hardly ever caught off guard. They attack with martial-arts-like techniques."

"Who was that?", Peter Pan asked.

"Who was what?", I asked dumbly as I quickly got myself busy fighting the Heartless with the others.

"The one that spoke just now?"

"Ventriloquism.", Gregorio spoke up, sounding like the Diary as he shot down an Air Pirate.

"Oh." With that Peter Pan flew into the air, white sparkles around him as he went, and started thrusting his dagger at the Heartless, dodging nimbly as he went.

Goofy was bashing away at a rather stubborn Pirate that wouldn't be disintegrated. He crouched down to avoid an attack and then ran forward, hitting Pirate with his shield and crushing it in between him and the wall. An Air Pirate flew straight at him, but Gregorio stabbed it before it could attack the knight.

Meanwhile, Donald was going trigger happy and was spamming Fira after Fira, blasting many of the Heartless away and destroying many of them. I had the sense to stop him.

"Hold it with the Fire spells, Donald.", I said. "We're in a wooden ship. And I don't think it's reistant to fire like us with our Barrier Jackets."

"Barrier Jackets?"

"Merlin explained it to us, remember?"

"Oh right."

"Please settle with other spells for now."

"Oh, okay."

After defeating the last Heartless in the area, we continued on. As we walked, Goofy had a question.

"So, uh, how come you can fly?", he asked.

"Anyone can fly.", scoffed Peter Pan as he turned around while hovering. "You wanna try?"

He then landed on the floor with us as the sparkles around him disappeared. He then whistled and Tinker Bell arrived in a second, seemingly angry.

"Aw, haven't you cooled off yet, Tink?", asked Peter Pan. Tinker Bell just turned around as he held her gently by the wings and they both ascended to the ceiling. Sparkles were emitted from the pixie as they landed on all of us. "Just a little bit of pixie dust. There. Now you can fly."

Donald jumped up and tried to flap his arms to see if it worked. But instead of flying, he fell to the floor. Tinker Bell seemed to laugh as Donald tapped his hands on the floor.

"For some reason, I don't think that's enough.", I said. "If I remember the fairy tale correctly, happy thoughts are also required. Or something."

"How did you know that?", Peter Pan inquired. "Did you come from the same world as Wendy?"

"You know of other worlds?", Donald asked the carrottop.

"Yes.", Peter Pan and I answered our questions.

I then added, "I mean, I'm from the same world, but not the same place or even time as her. I think it'd be too complicated for a kid like you to understand, not wanting to grow up and all."

As I continued talking, I suddenly entered 'vision mode' again. This time, I was back in that room where I once saw Riku, Xin, and the comatose Kairi. Riku and Windelle were there with Captain Hook and Geng.

"What?", the captain cried out incredulously. "So Wendy's not one of the chosen ones?"

"There are seven supposedly, and Maleficent says she's not one of them.", said Riku as he turned around. "Hoist anchor as soon as possible. Leave all the dead weight behind, including her."

"After the trouble of capturing her? And why those seven? What is Maleficent planning, anyway?"

"Who knows? As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back, I couldn't care less."

"Hmph. You're wasting your time!", the Captain told him. "The Heartless have devoured that girl's heart. I'll stake me other hand it's lost forever."

"Somebody better take note of that stake.", said Geng with a tone of mischief.

"I will find it no matter what.", insisted Riku.

"Uh, Captain…", a voice came.

"It's coming from the pipe tubes.", Geng told Captain Hook as the latter went over to it.

"What is it?", the captain called into the tube.

"The prisoners have escaped.", Smee said. "What's more, Peter Pan is with them."

The captain stood up, a fierce expression on his face. "Blast that Peter Pan! All right, then! Bring the hostage to me cabin, Smee! Hop to it!"

Suddenly, 'vision mode' ended as I was returned. We were in another part of the ship, and I was getting lost, not that we knew our whereabouts anyway. Above us seemed to be a wooden screen of sorts as well as a way into it. (1)

"Just what is it with him?", Peter Pan was asking Yoris, thumbing at my direction.

"He spaces out on occasion. We don't know why."

"Well, I don't know why I have this, but I feel it'll be of more use to you guys." He reached for a pouch tied at the back of his strap. He then tossed it to me and I caught it. I opened it and saw that it was a Power Orb that depicted a cloud symbol. I immeidately thought it to be useful and put it on my bracer, returning the Fira Power Orb into my bag, noting my advice to Donald.

Suddenly, Tinker Bell twinkled at Peter Pan.

"What is it, Tink?", Peter Pan asked.

As there was more twinkling from the pixie, there was another voice.

"Peter? Peter Pan?", the voice said. It was that of a preteen girl. We looked up and saw her as she bent down to see us.

From what I could tell, she was perhaps as tall as Sora, had big blue eyes and curly, light-brown hair that seemed to be tied back. She was clad in a blue nightdress and black slippers.

"Wendy!", Peter Pan called her name.

"Please hurry! The pirates are coming!"

"What? I'll be right up there! Just hold on!"

"Wendy?", Sora suddenly asked.

"Yes?", the girl replied.

"Is there another girl in there with you?"

Wndey turned her face upwards as if to look at somebody else. "Oh, why, yes. Two of them in fact. But one seems to be asleep. She hasn't budged an inch."

"What about the other?"

"She seems to be knocked out cold. Someone should tend to her right away."

The two were in view through the wooden screen. We could only see their shoes, legs, and hands. However, their colors told us who they were. (2)

"Kairi? Kairi!", Sora cried out as he reached out a hand.

"It's Florina!", Gregorio and Yoris cried out as they looked up as well.

They didn't seem to be moving at all. From the vision I saw back at Monstro, I knew that Florina was knocked out in battle, and Kairi's Heart was taken away (if Xin was to be believed). Wait. Kairi's Heart was taken? If that was the case, why is her body still here? Didn't it disappear into Sora back at Destiny Islands? Just then, I heard a slight chuckle of relief from the Key Bearer. I turned to him in confusion.

Before I could ask him what he was thinking, we heard a scream from Wendy as the unconscious bodies of Florina and Kairi were taken away.

"Wendy!", Peter Pan cried out. He then turned to us. "Hey, let's get up there!"

"Right.", Gregorio agreed.

With that, we cotinued traversing the ship, plowing though and passing by any Heartless that stood in our way. Ahead were a band of Pirates, both regular and Air variant. I held out a hand and invoked, "Sleep!" Instantly, there was a cloud of purple dust that was kicked up and the Heartless went limp as we took them down in a jiffy. However, it seems we made a wrong turn as we reached that same one ladder again.

"Argh!", I grunted. "Just how do we get out of this blasted ship?"

"I think I remember seeing a ladder back in the room before the one where we saw Wendy.", Goofy said.

"Now how did we miss that and you didn't?", Donald gasped as we followed Goofy.

Part II. Our Dark Clones

We made it back to that room Goofy was talking about. Indeed, there was a ladder leading somewhere above. However, it was attached to the ceiling.

"Uhh…can you…", Yoris was about to say.

"Leave that to me.", offered Peter Pan as he flew up and released what was holding the ladder up.

"Thanks."

We all climbed the ladder…but ended up in what Peter Pan called Captain Hook's cabin. Once all of us were up, Sora turned his head and immediately ran in that direction. Gregorio and Yoris swiftly followed and so did the rest of us. When we came to see what the three saw, it was Riku and Windelle, with Kairi and Florina in their arms.

"Hold it right there!" Gregorio shouted as he ran ahead of Sora. However, a dark splotch appeared underneath the space ahead of Riku and Windelle and from it emerged the dark clones of Sora and me. They came out with a fist hitting Gregorio in the face, sending him back. At that same moment, our former friends were gone.

Then, our dark clones' eyes turned yellow and they manifested shadow copies of our weapons. My shadow copy even had a shield.

"All right. We got two problems.", I found myself saying. "One, one of our opponents has a shield and is very defensive. Two, there just isn't enough room for all of us to fight."

"Let's fight in the room below.", said Sora's copy. With that, it disappeared, and then reemerged in…well, the room below. "Come on."

"Let's go.", Sora said as he, Donald, and Goofy immediately descended back down the ladder we just climbed up. Peter Pan turned to where they left, then to us, then back to the ladder. He then decided to follow Sora.

"Oh, finally.", said my copy as it held its gun and shield tight. "Let's get this started."

"Since when did Heartless start talking?", Gregorio asked.

"Believe me. I'm not the first. And I'm not about to be the last."

With that, my dark copy went on the defensive and shot away at us. I shielded myself as we fired at one another. Gregorio and Yoris proceeded to try and surround my copy, but it backed away into a corner. Yoris and I decided to barrage it with attacks, but then it sank into the ground like a Shadow Heartless.

"Uh oh.", I said as the three of us distanced ourselves to cover more ground.

Just then, my shadow copy popped out of the floor behind me and shot me in the back. As I fell over from the hit, Gregorio jumped to get at it, but it brought up its shield, then pushed him away.

"I am a copy of you, hence the defensive and pragmatism.", said my copy.

"I don't remember being strong enough to push somebody away with my shield.", I replied.

"You just don't know what you're capable of. And you won't ever once I'm through with you."

And with that, it then cast a dark thunderbolt, which hit Yoris. It then cast Regen on itself. Upon that happening, I cast Regen as well. My copy then resumed firing, staying at the walls and throwing off Gregorio whenever he was too close.

"Didn't think you'd be this difficult.", Gregorio told me.

"My copy doesn't have my emotional weaknesses, that's all.", I replied as we continued to fight the clone. _Fortunately, it doesn't have all of my Power Orbs._

I then wished I didn't think of that, for it then cast Poison. When the spell hit me, I instantly felt slightly nauseous and seemed to have a stomach cramp. I could also feel my health get seeped away. I immediately cast Esuna and we continued the fight.

It was a long one. So long, while I backed away from one of my dark copy's attacks, Sora was already climbing up the ladder to join me. I turned to the Key Bearer as he came, Donald, Goofy, and Peter Pan following. However, something all too familiar blocked their way. The Fighter Limit phenomenon. But who was casting it?

"Darn it!", Sora cried out.

"Pay attention!", a voice came from behind me.

I immediately turned around—a second too late—to see my dark copy already coming up from behind. It bashed me with its shield (somehow knocking something off my bag in the process) and then followed up with a Stop. The next thiing I knew, I was weakened considerably. I immediately knew that I was attacked during the time I was Stopped.

Gregorio managed to find an opening during that time and he was relentlessly attacking my copy, swinging his weapon's tip instead of thrusting over and over. Its shield was already somehow destroyed as it lay on the floor, sinking into darkness. Eventually, with a final attack from me, my copy slumped to the ground, fading into darkness as well.

"Heh.", it said as it completely disappeared. "I may be everything you could be and more, but I can never have companions, which more than make up for it."

Once my copy was gone, so was the barrier and Sora and the others got up to join us.

"Did you beat him?", Peter Pan asked.

"Yeah.", I replied.

"You dropped thi—", said Donald when he recognized what it was. "Hey. Isn't this the…" Donald turned to Peter Pan, reminding himself of our 'other world' masquerade. "…fake heart?"

"Oops. Please hand it over to me."

Before I could receive it, Peter Pan snatched the artificial heart back from Halloween Town and toyed around with it.

"Hmm…what's this doohickey you got here?"

"Give that back, Peter.", Gregorio told him sternly. "Aren't we supposed to look for Wendy?"

"Oh, right." He tossed the heart back to me.

"Thanks.", I said.

And with that, we looked around for a way into wherever Wendy was. Just then, Peter Pan found a trap door and opened it. He then looked into my bag and found some rope. While he could easly fly down there, it was for the rest of us. Once we all (save for me as I held the rope) descended, we saw an uncnscious Wendy. She lay on the floor, unmoving. Peter Pan immediately came to her aid, knelt down, and picked her up.

"Wendy!" Just then, Tinker Bell came and stated flying around from behind Peter Pan, twinkling as she went. He waved her off. "Come on, Tink! Not now!" With that, Tink left in a huff. "Well, This is as far as I can go. I've gotta help Wendy." He then flew out through the hatch Sora and the others went through, past me, and out the door ahead.

Just then, with the rope and artificial heart in my hands, I saw a Green Requiem appear. I turned to the artificial heart and had a crazy thought.

_I wonder what happens when an artificial heart is attacked by a Heartless?_, I wondered. _Let's see._

Then, forgetting I was holding the rope, I dropped it and hurled the heart at the healing Heartless. Upon impact, the Green Requiem was pushed back and seemed to undergo a strange process as the heart vanished. It seemed to convulse and shake vigourously. Then, in a flash of light, its Heartless Emblem disappeared. It then simply looked at me, as if waiting for me to say something.

"Hey, Rael!", Yoris suddenly called from below. "Catch!"

I looked down to see Yoris toss one end of the rope I dropped back to me. I caught it and held it tight as he, Gregorio, Donald, Goofy, and Sora climbed the rope. When they all made it up, they then noticed the Green Requiem. Just floating there, without any other Heartless accompanying it. And lacking its Emblem.

"What's this doing here?", Donald asked. "Why does it look so…different?"

"Maybe it's because I tossed an artificial heart at it.", I guessed.

"Wait, you mean that heart Dr. Finklestein made back at Halloween Town?", Yoris asked.

"The same one."

"What should we do?", Goofy wondered.

"Well, my gut says I should just take it down like any other Heartless.", Donald voiced his opinion. "But something seems…wrong with that. I think we should consult with Merlin about this."

"Reminds me.", I said. "I got a summon orb from the last world. Thanks for reminding me."

With that, we headed for the door where Riku and Windelle left. The former Heartless followed right behind.

Part III. Geng and Captain Hook

Once we opened the door, we confronted Captain Hook, Smee, Geng, and a band of Pirate Heartless (both regular and Air).

"Quite a codfish, those two.", said Captain Hook. "Running off with those girls without even saying goodbye." He made a mocking waving gesture as he did.

"Run off where?", Yoris asked as he aimed his cannon at the captain. "Tell us, where did he go?"

"To the ruins of Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent resides. But you won't be getting there." He then produced Tinker Bell, caged in a lantern. "Unless you intend to leave your little pixie friend behind?"

"No…", Sora muttered as he seemed to lose his will to fight. His Keyblade promptly disappeared as we were shortly surrounded by the Heartless.

"Hand over the Keyblade and I'll spare your lives.", the captain demanded. "Be glad I'm merciful, unlike the Heartless. So, which will it be? The Keyblade, or the plank?"

"We can't hand it to you.", Gregorio bluntly told the captain. "The Keyblade chooses its wielder, not the other way around."

Suddenly, we heard a clock ticking somewhere. We turned to the water…and saw a crocodile looking up at somebody in the ship. Captain Hook seemed to shake in his boots, obviously terrified.

"It's him! The crocodile that took me hand!", he said as he looked over. "Oh, Smee! He's after me other hand! I can't stay here!" He then started to run into the ship. "Go away! Oh, I can't stand the sight of him!" He then turned to Smee and Geng. "Take care of them!"

"I was hoping you'd say that.", said Geng as he twirled his halberd. He then proceeded to usher Sora to the plank, ready to push him off. Below, the crocodile waited, its mouth open, as if anticipating its eventual meal.

Curling my hand into a fist and hoped I could silently cast a spell. Just then, Sora decided to jump. Suddenly, I heard a voice in my head. It seemed to be that of Peter Pan's. "Fly! Just believe, and you can do it!"

With that, Sora jumped off from the plank and began to fall right into the crocodile's mouth, but suddenly, he stopped inches from the croc as sparkles from Tinker Bell's pixie dust. He then started to rise and began to fly up back into view. Then, Peter Pan came out of the sky and dashed in midair to grab the lantern with Tinker Bell from Smee's hands. Geng wasn't quick enough to react to this and the rest of us plowed through the Pirates and rejoined Sora and Peter Pan as they descended. Tinker Bell was then released from the confines of her lantern.

"Thanks, Peter.", said Sora.

"Hey, don't mention it. You didn't think I'd leave you and Tink behind, did you?"

With that, Smee fled from the scene and onto a dinghy as if to flee. Geng however, entered a battle stance.

"You're all going down!", said Gregorio as he spun his javelin once.

"We'll see about that.", replied Geng as he snapped his fingers, and summoned more Heartless; Air Pirates and two other kinds.

Some of the new ones had pitch-black spherical bodies streaked with dark blue. Their glowing, yellow eyes were rather small. The insides of their mouths were blue, which was a jagged, toothy opening. They had three thick, black and blue tentacles with frayed, pink tips sprouting out of their bodies, two on their tops and one on their underside.

"Darkball.", said the Diary. "Heartless born purely out of darkness. Their movements are unpredictable, as they often make sudden moves and attacks."

Two others flanking the ship were moderately-larger-than-human-size galleons flying in the air via propeller. What looked to be a Heartless captain on them were actually their heads and top half of their bodies. They seemed to be composed of two parts. At the wheel of the ship was a Heartless captain, blue in color, wearing an eyepatch, a black pirate hat, and a blue admiral's jacket.

The ship itself was a bit more ornate; while made of wood, it was decorated in bright pink and purple and featured a prow covered in horns, a skull figurehead, and a cannon with a sharp spike as ammo at the very front. On the left hand side was the spiky anchor. Two smaller cannons sat on either side of the ship further back. There were also two grey oars jutting from the sides.

"Battleship.", the Diary said. "Heartless that fused together with a pirate ship. They attack with homing and magic projectiles. Attack them at close range."

"Is now really the time, Gregorio?", Peter Pan asked, still thinking he was speaking and not the Diary.

"It's not him.", replied Geng. "It's the little book the kid with the shield has in his person."

"In what now?"

"Never mind. It doesn't matter." Geng then conjured a blast of wind from himself that pushed us back. We did our best to stay put but Gregorio and Peter Pan were blown off. He then thrust his halberd into the floor, conjuring the barrier again. As it engulfed us, Peter Pan managed to get in, but Gregorio was stuck 'outside'. "'Cause you're all gonna become Heartless."

With that, we charged. We managed to plow down the Pirates with relative ease, but Geng seemed to have something strange in him. Much to our surprise, he jumped up into the air and was flying alongside the other Heartless.

"Surprised?", the samurai asked. "When we took Tinker Bell, I sprinkled some of her pixie dust onto myself."

He then swung his halberd and sent a gale of wind right at us once more. The Darkballs then began to descend upon us. We bashed them all away and Yoris's thunder balls took them all down in one hit. However, the two Battleships were a different matter. They were very sturdy and weren't about to go down easily. However, after a few Graviras and critical knife strikes from Peter Pan, they were soon taken care of. However, more Heartless appeared.

"We need to cover more ground!", said Yoris.

"That orb I gave you!", Peter Pan told me. "Use it!"

"All right.", I replied as I raised the bracer with it and then there was a flash of some kind. I suddenly felt lighter. Just then, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Yoris started to fly up and began to attack the Air Pirates. Queasy around heights, I stayed close to the floor, hovering a few inches off it to save stamina.

The 'converted' Green Requiem floated around me the whole time, healing me and my allies as we fought. Some of the Air Pirates caught on with this and started to head for the former Heartless. I strafed about, dodging and defending it and myself against their attacks and returning fire. Sometimes, I even had to fly up with the rest, who were either holding off Air Pirates, Darkballs, Battleships, or even Geng himself. I always tried to land on the ship whenever I could.

As Gregorio wasn't around to take on the samurai, it was Sora taking him on in his place. After wiping out the last of the Air Pirates, the others were ganging up on the Battleships. Gravira spells proved to be really effective in crushing it and that was left to Donald and me. Goofy, Yoris, and Peter Pan were finishing off any straggling Heartless in the area, although that wasn't much of a matter as more kept coming in waves.

Sora was having a difficult time against Geng, who was parrying blows with ease and pushing everybody around with his powers over wind. He even had a shield of air around him, Aero spell-style. Eventually, his relentless combo ended. It was when I was shooting at the Heartless, I managed to see Geng hover there, sending out gales as usual. I found my chance, and shot away at him. He saw them coming and deflected them. However, it was then that Sora and Peter Pan rushed in.

Before he knew what was going on, the two started slashing at him. When one's combo ended, the other followed straight after, not giving Geng any chance to retaliate. Whenever either or both Sora and Peter had to fight off Heartless, attacks from Yoris, Goofy, or Donald kept him from escaping. With each hit, he started to descend. In the end, Sora dealt the final blowm knocking away Geng's halberd and dealing one final strike. He cried out in excruciating pain as he last blow was dealt. He took a few steps before falling over to the floor and fadng into darkness.

We all then descended to the ship's deck and Gregorio joined us as we saw a green scroll left behind. Its shade was the same as that of the Cure scroll. Sora picked it up, then it disappeared.

"Now, all that's left is Captain Hook.", said Yoris.

"Leave that to me.", said Peter Pan.

KHKHKHKHKH

We were all gathered near the door to the cabin. Peter knocked on it, then sniggered for a bit and I realized he was about to play a trick.

"Is that you, Smee, Geng?", we heard the captain call. "Did you finish them off?"

Peter then pressed on his nose, making his voice sound nasal, almost like Smee. "Aye, Captain. They walked the plank, every last one of them." He then backed away as the door slammed open. Captain Hook came out of the door and looked around to verify "Smee's" words. Peter Pan then snuck up to the captain and poked him in the butt with his dagger. Captain Hook jumped up high before landing and turning around.

"P-Peter Pa—" He then swung his hook in a furious manner. "Blast you!"

"Ready to make a splash, you codfish? Now it's your turn to walk the plank!" Captain Hook drew out a rapier and got ready to fight. Just then, Geng's halberd, which was left behind, started to rise and plant itself into the ship's deck. The barrier then formed and expanded. This time, Donald was pushed out of the fight. Then, two Battleships were summoned.

Silently, we all made our agreements and as Goofy, Yoris, and I immediately went off to deal with the Heartless, Sora, Gregorio, and Peter Pan were facing off against Captain Hook. Sora was his first opponent and they started to duke it out against one another. Whenever Hook pushed away Sora, Gregorio or Peter Pan would jump in and 'sub'. Sora would also do it for both of them as well as one another. In any case, the pirate captain was fully occupied.

Meanwhile, the rest of us started flying around, dodging cannons and rammings from the Battleships and counterattacking. Remembering last time (which was just the previous battle), Donald and I cast Gravira on them, then the court wizard and Goofy went melee. I kept my distance and cast Thundara since my DirLuxGun was out of power again. All the while, the Green Requiem stayed by my side, healing when necessary.

Back below, I saw that the fight against Hook was still raging on. However, Hook semeed to be able to shake off Gregorio and Peter Pan quite easily in a way that it always went back to Sora and Hook in a swashbuckling showdown. While Hook was obviously the swordmaster, Sora wasn't bad for someone self-taught. The two were so heated up in their fight that Gregorio and Peter decided to help me and the others on fighting off the Battleships.

As I continued to cast magic on the Heartless, Tinker Bell suddenly came over as if to tell me about something. As I attempted to read her movements (no, not like _that_), I summoned my DirLuxGun and raised it close to her, wondering if her light counts as direct light. I found myself nodding each time, even though I didn't understand a thing. She then flew off and I followed her all the way to the top, where the crow's nest is. There, I saw a device of some kind which seemed to be supposed to fire a beam of light/energy/whatever.

_This is the same thing that took out our Gummi Ship!_, I realized as I approached it. Suddenly, it started to react and shoot a red beam into the sky, piercing through the barrier. A shape then formed and in seconds, the Excalibur was there. _So that's where… But…what about Chip and Dale? Were they evicted from the ship like us, or where they…trapped inside this whole time? How much time passed in there anyway? I hope it isn't long._

Just then, right below my position, the Battleships were destroyed and Sora dealt the final blow to Captain Hook, sending him off the ship and into the water, leaving behind a scroll and three Power Orbs. As I descended, I saw the crocodile chase the captain as they disappeared into the horizon. Shortly, I saw Smee on a boat, swiftly rowing to follow his captain.

Once I landed, Sora picked up the scroll and it disappeared into his hands. As he moved someplace to think, I picked up the three Power Orbs. Two were green and depicted a dot and a statue. When Donald came over, Geng's halberd having been taken by Gregorio who decided to keep it, he said they were the Mini and Petrify spell. As for the yellow one, it depicted a meteor shower. Of course, we had no idea what it does for me, but I knew I'd figure it out some other time.

"Is that…", Peter Pan said, referring to the Gummi Ship.

"That's our vessel.", Goofy explained. Donald turned to him sternly.

"Looks pretty neat."

Meanwhile, Yoris and Gregorio noticed Sora sulking, deep in thought. The two went over to him and the others noticed too.

"Kairi couldn't wake up, so maybe she's really lost her—", Yoris mused.

"Shh!", Donald shushed him. About the same time, I cast Silence on Yoris to make sure he wouldn't say anything else.

"It's best not to say it.", Gregorio added.

"Sora.", Peter called.

"I still can't believe it.", the Key Bearer said as he raised his head. "I really flew. Wait 'til I tell Kairi. I wonder if she'll believe me. Probably not."

"You can bring her to Neverland sometime. Then she can try it herself."

"If you believe, you can do anything, right?" Sora turned to face the rest of us. "I'll find Kairi. I know I will. There's so much I want to tell her—about flying, the pirates, and everything else that's happened."

"I'll just get to our ship and see if it's okay.", Donald said as he flew to the Excalibur.

Part IV. Two Sailing Ships

Sometime later, Peter was now wearing a pirate coat and hat, which he took from Captain Hook's cabin.

"All right, everyone!", he said. "Onward to take Wendy back home! It's the first flight of Captain Peter Pan's flying ship!" The ship now sparkled with Tinker Bell's pixie dust, which enabled it to fly. Somehow. The ship flew towards the island and the Excalibur followed.

We reach an old tree of sorts, where Wendy seemed to be waiting outside. She was quickly boarded and so were six other boys in animal suits. One was slender an in a fox costume, one was in a grey rabbit costume, two were in raccoon costumes and seemed to be twins, one was chubby and in a bear costume, and one was quite young and wearing a skunk costume.

After Peter introduced us to the "Lost Boys", who were the kids in animal suits (and them to us), they rushed…right into the cabin to explore the ship. I though they would take notice of the Excalibur, which Donald didn't want, but that thankfully didn't happen.

"Hey!", Peter called to us. "Wanna check out what they're looking for?"

Only Goofy, Gregorio, and Yoris entered. I stuck around at the door to watch. Sora remained outside, accompanied by Wendy. Inside the cabin, the Lost Boys found a treasure chect filled with gold coins and jewels.

"That's what a pirate ship's all about!", one of them said as they then jumped into the chest and started arguing over it.

"That's mine!", one boy said.

"No, it's mine!", said another.

"What's wrong with these guys…?", Gregorio wondered.

"They're Peter Pan's followers, a-hyuck!", replied Goofy.

Just then, the one in the bear suit picked up a piece of crumpled paper. "What's this?", he wondered. He thn tossed it away. "Just trash!" The trash hit Yoris at the waist who picked it up, uncrumpled it, and found out that it was…

"Ansem's Report!", he cried out.

"Maybe there's something else hidden in there.", Goofy said.

"Hmm…", Gregorio considered.

Out at the deck, Wendy was talking with Sora.

"I'm really sorry that you couldn't rescue your friend.", she said. "You'll find her, Sora. Just don't give up."

"Thanks, Wendy.", he replied. "I think I understand now. I was able to fly when I believed. If you believe, you can do anything, right? I will find Kairi. I know I will."

"That's the spirit."

Suddenly, a wormhole opened and both our vessels passed through it. It was an exhilarating sight, watching the stars and other celestial objects pass by. And with our Gummi Ship right next. Suddenly, it ended into another place. I immediately recognized the clock tower.

"Hey.", I said. "Is that…"

"The clock tower.", Wendy called out.

"Not just any clock tower."

"It's the—"

"Hold on a second.", Sora interrupted.

"What is it?", asked Wendy.

"One of the clocks." All but one of the clocks read 12:00; the one clock had its minute hand ponted at IX, but the hour hand wasn't tilted so that the clock read 11:45. "It's not telling the same time as the others." He then turned to Peter Pan, who was back in his usual green clothes. "Peter! Can you stop the ship here?"

"Uhh, okay."

Once that was done, Sora started to fly. He then went over to the clock and started to hit the minute hand, which slowly maade its way to its position so that it would match the rest. Once that happened, he returned to the ship as the clock face began to flash. Once it returned to its normal brightness, a Keyhole appeared inbetween the II and III. Sora proceeded to do what he had to do; lock it. It was pretty bland this time, nothing fancy. It was just aim, 'shoot', then the keyhole disappeared just like that.

After the sealing of the Keyholes, Peter Pan docked the ship next to the clock tower. Donald docked the Excalibur to another side as he then disembarked and waited for Sora and the others. Suddenly, I seemed to enter 'vision mode' again.

_It seemed to be a memory of Sora's as it showed him when he was a kid. He was with Riku and they seemed to be in a cave of sorts._

_"Hey, Sora.", Riku was saying._

_"Hm?"_

_"When we grow up, let's get off this island. We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!" They then proceeded to walk out of the cave._

_"Sure. But isn't there anything fun to do now? Hey, you know the girl at the mayor's house? She arrived on the night of the meteor shower!"_

_Suddenly, Riku turned back to look back and saw a wooden door. It was the same one back at the Secret Place, before he, Sora, and Kairi drew the pictures. There was a Keyhole on the door._

Suddenly, the vision changed again. 'I' was now in the dark room where the villains once met. Riku was breathing heavily and Windelle seemed slightly winded. Xin stood in front of the two.

"It was reckless to bring them here without at least using a vessel.", Xin warned. "Remember, relying too heavily on the dark powers could cost you your heart. You could've had Geng call for me, you know. I could at least have shielded you with my powers over darkness."

"Shut up…", Riku retorted.

Suddenly, a noise was heard form behind. Riku immediately started up.

"Hmm. Looks like we got castaways. While their world perished, their hearts did not. When we took the princess from his castle, he apparently followed her here through sheer force of will. His friend probably arrived by accompanying him. But fear not. No harm will come to either of you. They are no match for your power."

"My power?", Riku asked.

"Yes, the untapped power that lies inside you. Now, boy, it's time you awakened that power and realized your full potential."

Again, a glow emanated from Riku as he absorbed Xin's gift.

Suddenly, my perspective shifted back to mine as the converted Green Requiem nudged its body at my head. I turned to the cabin, where I saw Goofy, Yoris, and Gregorio playing rock-paper-scissors with the Lost Boys.

"I win!", the three said at the same time.

"Aww…", groaned the Lost Bpys who played with them.

"I wonder why you want those stuff anyway?", said the kid in the fox suit.

"That's none of your beeswax, boys.", replied Gregorio as he, Yoris, and Goofy took their prizes.

"Hey, what'd you just win?", I asked as the three came over.

"These.", Yoris said as the three showed me their prizes. One of them was a coiled spring, the second was a horseshoe magnet, and the third was a gummi. "Two parts and a Navi-G. Lucky."

"Unfortunately, I also had to take some paopus from your bag.", Gregorio apologized.

"While I was spaced out?", I asked.

"Yeah."

"Don't worry. I'm good with it. I plan on giving some to Wendy too."

I turned to exit the ship and onto the clock tower, the green then-Heartless following me the whole time. Goofy, Yoris, and Gregorio joined me as we then met up with Sora and Donald. As we walked, we bumped into Tinker Bell, who was watching Peter Pan and Wendy talk to each other.

"Peter, are you really going back to Neverland?", Wendy asked.

"Afraid so. But we can see each other any time. As long as you don't forget about Neverland, that is."

As the two held each other's hands, Donald Duck laughed at the sight and Tinker Bell looked angry. She turned to Donald, who closed his beak, not wanting it to be kicked again.

"How romantic!", the Lost Boys chorused as they watched from the ship.

Peter Pan then turned to Sora. "Sora. You should come visit Neverland again. We can all fly together."

"…Yeah. I'll come back someday. I promise."

"Oh. And another thing. I need you to do me a favor. I know you'll be leaving soon and I want you to take Tink with you." Tinker Bell flew around in shock and was spraying pixie dust everywhere.

"Wait, what?", I asked.

"Why?", Donald asked.

"I need you to trust me on this." Peter said. "Will you go with them Tink? For me at least?" Tinker Bell seemed to flatly refuse but she soon gave in. She flew over to us, and Sora then took out his Keyblade. Tinker Bell began to glow and turn into a ball of light. The ball of light then became a yellow summon gem. It landed on Sora's hands and he pocketed it.

"I want you to have this as thanks.", Wendy said as she walked over to Sora. She then handed him what looked like a keychain.

"Thanks, Wendy."

"Here.", Yoris said as he took out a paopu from my bag and offered it to Wendy. "It's from us."

"Thanks." She received the paopu.

"Well, we better be going now."

With that, we boarded the Excalibur and followed what was once Captain Hook's now Peter Pan's ship across the wormhole back to the island of Neverland. Upon reaching there, we then parted ways as we ascended to the skies.

Gummi Ship Time: New Stuff

We were all at the cockpit of the Excalibur. Before leaving, we also decided to take the beam that shot the Excalibur. Peter Pan and the Lost Boys allowed us to do so as they didn't know any way to use it themselves.

"Thank goodness you got the ship back.", said Dale.

"It was creepy inside the ship when it got sucked in by that beam.", said Chip.

"What was it like in there?", Donald asked.

"We don't want to talk about it."

"Okay."

"Wonder what Keyblade this'll be?", Sora wondered as he took out the Keychain Wendy gave and summoned his Keyblade. The new keychain had silver links, and the token was a red feather similar to the one in Peter Pan's hat. Sora replaced the keychains and the Keyblade changed form once more.

It new form was now reminiscent of Peter Pan's clothing. Its handle was dark green and the base of its guard was light green. The rest of the guard was comprised by two sets of wings, one white pair creating the sides of the guard, and one light blue pair above them, which were similar to Tinker Bell's. The base of the blade was dark green and the shaft was light green and rounded. The tips of the blade and the teeth were gold and modeled after pan pipes.

After looking in awe at the new Keyblade, Donald was the first to speak. "I was wondering about that Heartless following Rael. We should head for Merlin's to ask him about this."

"Thanks for reminding me.", I said. "Again."

"Yeesh! Where are we now?", Gregorio complained "I think we're lost."

"Let's use that Warp Gummi."

"Where to?"

"Well, we found the Navi-Gummi piece. Let's go back to Traverse Town."

"Cid'll install it on the ship once we bring it to him.", Sora added.

"All right! Let's go!" Donald pushed a button and we were sucked into another wormhole. In seconds, we were back at Traverse Town. "All right. We're here."

"Thank goodness.", Yoris sighed in relief. "We could use some rest."

**Captain Hook**

_The pirate with a grudge against Peter Pan, who caused him to lose his hand to the crocodile. He threw in his lot with Maleficent and the Heartless, but ended up being chased over the horizon by the crocodile._

_He hooked us in "Peter Pan" (1953)._

**Smee**

_Hook's first mate. He lives to take orders from Hook, but he's as slow-witted as Hook is obnoxious._

_He appeared in "Peter Pan" (1953)._

**Geng**

_Another of Maleficent's minions. He has powers over wind proved problematic in our fight with him, but one opening was all that was needed to bring him down._

**Peter Pan**

_The flying boy from Neverland, where no one ever grows up. He can be stubborn, but he's also fearless and has a strong sense of justice. He snuck on board Hook's ship to rescue Wendy, who was kidnapped._

_He led the Lost Boys in "Peter Pan" (1953)._

**Tinker Bell**

_The little pixie of Neverland. She's Peter Pan's loyal partner, but she has a short fuse, and she's very jealous of any girl who gets near Peter. With a little of her pixie dust, you can fly… if you believe. Peter Pan asked her to accompany Sora and friends on their quest, but she's anxious to see Peter. _

_She made us believe in fairies in "Peter Pan" (1953)._

**Wendy**

_A dreamy girl whose wish to visit Neverland came true. Peter Pan showed her the way, but she got caught up in Hook's vendetta against Peter, and was kidnapped by Hook._

_She watched over the Lost Boys in "Peter Pan" (1953)._

**Tick-Tock**

_A seagoing reptile big enough to swallow a man whole - and he's always hungry! He got a taste of Hook once and never forgot it. Hook can tell when he's near by the sound of the clock ticking away in his stomach._

_He had a taste for Captain Hook in "Peter Pan" (1953)._

**Lost Boys**

_A group of ragtag young boys led by Peter Pan. _

_They first appeared in "Peter Pan" (1953)._

(1) Darn, I'm not as good in details as I used to.

(2) The issues of not changing clothes for cleaning…

-The Lost Boys part was taken from the manga as well as the flashbacks to Ursula and Jafar. See ya on Third.-


	17. Special 3: More Todos To Do

Bertie: Did you in any way use some concepts from Captain America as a basis of your character?

nightelf37: Remember, the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there (or the manga), or even the movie where the current world is based on, I 'own' it. And here is 'my' current Power Orb inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Cure, Esuna, Regen, Silence, Fira, Dispel, Slow, Float, Mini, Petrify

(skills) Shield Boomer, Combo Shots

(summons)

In storage:

(spells) Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Aero, Gravity, Poison, Stop, Charm, Confuse, Protect, Shell, Thundara, Blizzara, Blind, Immobilize, Disable, Haste, Sleep

(skills) Sky Dropper, Boomer Blast, Yoyo Shot, Aura Wave

(summons) Baloo, XR, Bahamut (with Merlin), ? (not yet activated)

Special 3: More To-dos To Do

Part I. A Strange Dream

We landed the Excalibur near the entrance to Traverse Town. The Destiny was also 'parked' there. I sighed in relief as we exited the Excalibur. We then headed across the door and entered the First District. All the while, the converted green Heartless, which I decided to nickname "Requiem" out of the name of its 'species', was hidden inside my bag.

"So…what shall we do next?", Yoris asked.

"Let's buy supplies, then see Cid.", Goofy suggested.

"Right."

After purchasing a couple of Mega-Potions, Mega-Ethers, and Megalixirs, we went over to the Gummi Block shop and greeted him upon arrival.

"Hey there, boys.", Cid greeted as we came over.

"Hey there, Cid.", Gregorio greeted back.

"What'cha got for me? Or do you wish to buy something?"

"Right here." Goofy presented the Navi-G he won back at Neverland.

"Looks like you found the other one. Let me see it." Goofy offered the gummi to Cid, who began to inspect it closely. "Okay, it might take a while. You guys look weary. You should rest up elsewhere. I'll be back here in an hour or two."

"Just how do you install a Navi-G into **two **ships?", Yoris wanted to know.

"That…is a trade secret."

"Aww, come on."

"Well, I better be off to install the gummi. See ya."

With that, Cid left. Taking his advice, we decided to head for Refuge Asylum and went to Room 10. Tidus and the rest were there as they greeted us. For some reason, we greeted them rather weakly and went to the beds to rest.

Sora seemed to be groaning, feeling rather glum as he and I crashed onto one bed.

"Sora!", Donald called out.

"Now, just remember what Donald said to ya.", reminded Goofy. "No frowning, no sad faces."

"How can you be so cheerful?", Sora asked. "There's still no sign of your king. Aren't you worried?"

"Aw, phooey.", Donald scoffed.

"The king told us to go out and find the Key Bearer, and we found you.", Goofy said. "So as long as we stick together, it'll all work out okay. Ya just gotta believe in yourself, that's all."

"Just believe…", Sora repeated as he closed his eyes. I closed my eyes as well as I drifted off into dreamland.

KHKHKHKHKH

_As I rested, I found myself in a library. _

_There was a young redhead girl in a white-and-pink dress. The little girl went over to somebody sitting on a chair. She seemed to be an old and kindly grandmother. Her hair was greying, and wore a maroon piece of cloth around her neck, a purple blouse, and a white apron over it._

"Where am I?"_, I heard a familiar voice. I turned to see Sora, who seemed to be watching as well._

_Just then, the old woman began to speak, as if telling a story. _

_"Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of light survived…in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now. _

_"But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open. And the true light will return. So, listen, child. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away. _

_"Do you understand, Kairi?"_

_I widened my eyes in response. _That's Kairi? Oh right…

_"Kairi!", Sora called out as he reached out for her._

_Suddenly, there was a flash of light._

KHKHKHKHKH

I immediately woke up with a start. Sora did so too, but also got up from bed.

"Huh?", Sora muttered.

"What's the matter, ya?", Wakka asked.

"Um, nothing."

"Uhh, okay."

"I think we rested enough.", said Gregorio as he and Yoris got up from another bed. "Let's head back to Cid."

"Good idea.", agreed Donald.

"Thanks for letting us stay for a while.", Yoris said to Selphie and the others.

"No problem, Yoris."

KHKHKHKHKH

Around the time we returned to Cid's Gummi Block shop, he was back.

"I installed that navigation gummi.", he said. "But, ya know? That place is crawling with Heartless. Don't say I didn't warn you. Here, take this along." He offered Sora and me two more gummis, they seemed to be shaped differently from the rest. "Those are transformation gummis. You can mount it on one Gummi Ship model you have. It allows that ship to transform into another Gummi Ship you have during flight. Neat, huh?"

"Totally!", agreed Gregorio.

Part II. Another Visit With Merlin

We made our way to Merlin's house, taking out Heartless along the way. Upon meeting with the wizard, talked about the oddities (to me at least) of the worlds we've been to. After being satisfied with his explanations, we also showed him the orbs we acquires so far. Merlin explained to me that the yellow Power Orb with the meteors, after examining it for a while, said that the orb's ability is Combo Shots, where I can perform eight continuous shots and finish with a charged shot. While he wasn't able to figure out my yellow Power Orbs before (although he did figure out the Aura Wave), he was apparently learning (or remembering) more. As for the summon gem I obtained back at Halloween Town, the Fairy Godmother was called from the carriage, and I handed her the gem. Waving her wand, she invoked the usual incantation.

"Bibbity… Bobbity… Boo!"

With another twinkling of white lights, there was a flash. We all covered our eyes due to the brightness. As the light finally began to dissipate, the silhouette of a bird appeared. When the light faded, I saw a small and slender hummingbird, with both teal and white feathers, and a hot pink-colored head. It seemed to be cupped in place by the Fairy Godmother.

"What's with this fella?", Goofy asked.

"I think this little fella is confused and afraid.", she said. "We should try and console him."

And that's what she did. Sora and the others all took part in calming down the hummingbird. I stood and watched as I didn't have very good social skills. After the hummingbird calmed down, The Fairy Godmother told us that his name was Flit.

"Why can't you get him to talk like you did with Simba, Baloo, Dumbo, and Bambi?", asked Yoris.

"Well, Flit's voice is too squeaky for our ears, so…"

"Okay."

The Fairy Godmother then let go of the hummingbird, who hovered in place. Through her, Flit told us what happened before coming here, starting with a hide-and-seek game, the shadows appearing, his being pinned down, and ending with this moment. In turn, like with the rest of the summons, we explained to him about our mission. After hearing us out, Flit just looked down.

"What's wrong?", I asked.

"It looks like that Flit doesn't think he is confident in his skills.", the Fairy Godmother said.

"Could you tell him that being here already proves he is strong?", Yoris asked. "The power of his will allowed him to survive the darkness that consumed his world."

The Fairy Godmother told Flit what he said, and after a while, Flit perked up and nodded his head. The Fairy Godmother then turned to us.

"It looks like he's ready to help. And I'll provide him with the power of healing."

"Just like with Bambi?", I asked.

"Yes. I considered giving him the power to inflict 'status ailments', but I'm too kind a soul to do that." Flit then disappeared into a red Power Orb. The Fairy Godmother then handed it to me. Just then, one of Sora's summon gems glowed and out came Tinker Bell. The Fairy Godmother and Merlin blinked their eyes in surprise.

"Oh, reminds me. I was also gonna ask you about this." I reached for my bag, and opened it. Requiem popped out of the bag, startling the two again.

"Goodness gracious!", gasped the Fairy Godmother. "Wherever did you get it in you to get a Heartless?" Requiem looked insulted and she seemed to change her composure upon seeing its sorrowful eyes. "Although I could see it seems to be…different somehow."

"That's what I wanted to ask Merlin about."

"Could you please bring him over to me?", the wizard asked. I nodded to Requiem, who approached Merlin as he started to inspect him.

Meanwhile, Sora and Tinker Bell went over to the Fairy Godmother and seemed to be talking about the pixie being a summon voluntarily. Shortly after, Sora went over to the Pooh Book, two Torn Pages in hand, and entered it. We knew it was gonna take a while, so I decided to go to Merlin and was about to ask him for some training when he looked up to me.

"This is an extremely rare case.", the wizard told me. "But not entirely unheard of."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, Requiem here is a Heartful, a former Heartless who has turned to the side of good after contact with a heart that is not real."

"Like an artificial heart?"

"From what little I know about the Heartless, those with Emblems are artificially manufactured somehwere. My theory is that some of those manufactured have flaws that result in mistaking heart-shaped objects or artificial hearts as the Hearts they're meant to take. However, something bothers me about this kind. If I remember correctly, this is a Green Requiem, which aren't the type to attack and are more likely to support their kin."

"Well, about that, I sort of obtained an artificial heart somewhere in our travels and decided to chuck it at Requiem to see what happens." I then made a nervous chuckle.

"My, my. You've been a naughty boy."

"Sorry about that."

"Well, what's done is done, and we can't change that." There was a short pause. "About Tinker Bell, where did you acquire her?"

"In a world called Neverland. One of our friends there Peter Pan asked us to look after her for him. I want to know how she is able to become a summon."

"I'm afraid there are things even I don't have the answers to. I'm sorry if I can't be of any help."

"Oh, all right." There was a pause. "Or is it that you know, but don't want me to know for safety reasons?"

Before Merlin could answer, there was a flash of light from the book and Sora was back. In his hand was a slightly larger white scroll. Upon exiting the book and emerging where we could see him, the scroll then disappeared in his hand and completely paused for six seconds before moving again. I then realized it was the next level of Stop magic. With that taken care of, Tinker Bell was 'dismissed' back into summon gem form, we took our leave, and bid Merlin and the Fairy Godmother goodbye. But not before doing something to Requiem…

Part III. Alternate Scenario: Sora et al. vs. Cloud and Barret

"Good job.", a voice came once we were done.

We all turned to face the speaker. Standing not ten feet away from where we stood was the mysterious warrior we had seen earlier. The black man stood behind him. The blonde-haired man's gaze turned onto Sora, his ice blue eyes narrowing. Sora took a hesitant step forward.

"You're the guys from earlier.", he said as we all grouped up into formation, Sora and I in front and the others behind us.

The man nodded. "My name's Cloud Strife."

"And I'm Barret Wallace.", the black man said.

Then, without a word, Cloud brought out from his back a large, powerful sword. It seemed to weigh a ton and was at least twice Sora's height. The dark metal gleamed in the sunlight from within its wrappings of thin brown cloth. The red hilt was held by one firm, gloved hand, supporting the huge blade. As Cloud positioned himself into a ready position, clutching the sword steadily between both hands, Barret walked to Cloud's right and held out his metal hand, which transformed into a large high-tech minigun.

"You really kicked butt back there, I'll give you that.", Barret said as he clutched his 'gun arm' with his other hand. "Now show us what you're really made of!"

"Let's do the divide-and-conquer.", Sora suggested. "Donald, Goofy, and I will deal with Cloud."

"And you want me, Greogorio, and Yoris to handle Barret?", I finished. Sora nodded. "All right then."

Once we were done making small talk, we perpared for battle and split up so that we faced our self-designated opponents. Cloud made the first move by charging straight at Sora, who leapt back as a nervous reaction, nearly tripping over himself. Donald and Goofy jumped awkwardly out of Cloud's way, falling painfully onto their butts. Cloud seemed to fly at Sora with an amazing speed. Before Sora knew it, he was hurtling across the arena.

Meanwhile, Barret fired relentlessly with his gun arm. Whlle my shield could protect gainst the bullets, the force from them were pushing us back as Gregorio and Yoris hid behind me. As I struggled to walk forward, Yoris suddenly had an idea. Through an impossible maneuver (or perhaps a feature of his cannon), he launched a fireball to the side and it curved right at Barret, who took the blow and stopped his attack. As I stumbled for a moment from the sudden halt of bullet fire, Gregorio leaped into the air and thrust his javelin down on Barret. The heavyset man blocked the blow with his gun arm, which had reverted to its regular hand form. Barret then grabbed Gregorio with his left hand, then hurled him right at Donald and Goofy, who were knocked back by Cloud, who was pursuing Sora.

"Guys! Help Sora!", I commanded as I decided to deal with Barret. I shot away at the man relentlessly, not giving him a chance to get up. Suddenly, I was struck by a 'blade wave' from Cloud. Since it came from my right, I was able to defend myself with my shield, but it stopped me from attacking. Barret managed to recover at this time, turned his hand back into a gun arm, and started firing at me. As I defended against his attack, I saw Sora trying to dodge Cloud, who was ignoring the others.

"Goofy! Distract him!", Donald said as he made a break for Sora, Hi-Potion in hand. Goofy swallowed hard, then clutched his shield tight and barreled toward Cloud, shield first. Cloud stopped as Donald rushed past him, turning around to look at Goofy with his icy gaze. Gregorio then decided to charge as well. Sora was his friend too and he wasn't gonna let this happen. Yoris however turned to Barret instead and launched a fireball right at him, allowing me to resume my onslaught.

"Sora!", Donald yelled as he popped the cork off the top of the curative as he knelt near Sora, who stopped for breath. Donald helped Sora into a sitting position, and offered him the Hi-Potion. "Come on, kid, drink!"

Sora grabbed the bottle and chugged down the whole thing. Donald looked urgently back at Goofy and Gregorio, who were now backing away from the slowly approaching Cloud. A green aura surrounded Sora for a second, and then he was recovered.

"Thanks, Donald."

"Now that you're feeling better.", Donald said, helping Sora to his feet, "We've gotta get back in there and beat these guys!"

Meanwhile, Yoris and I noticed that Barret had a glowing red circle underneath him. The circle's edges started to glow and 'spikes' seemed to stick out of the ground. Barret had his gun arm aimed ready to attack. I just knew this wasn't good and kept my guard up. Barret then suddenly ran up to Yoris, who was to my left, and punched him with his gun arm, sending the cannon user right into the arena barrier and KO'ing him as he didn't get up later. (5) Now that he was next to me, I suddenly got a panic attack and cast Thunder on Barret by impulse, sending him back. I then cast Cure on myself (and now out of energy to cast any more spells) and resumed my attack.

Meanwhile, Cloud had shoved the knight and javelin wielder away with such force that it knocked them out.

"I'm not after you.", he muttered coldly.

Sora gripped the Keyblade in his hands as Cloud came at him and Donald for a vertical swing. Both of them dodged the attack diagonally, the Keyblade wielder following up with a roll. Donald then came to my assistance against Barret as I had to rest my trigger finger for a few seconds, treating me with an Ether. Cloud lifted his weapon and turned slowly to look at Sora.

"You're going to die anyway.", he said firmly. "You might as well stand still."

"What?", Sora practically spat out. "What are you talking about?"

As Cloud swung his sword swiftly, Sora just managed to dodge by jumping out of the way. The swordsman then took the hilt of his weapon into both hands and closed his eyes. His body began to glow in an orange aura. Then, ever so slowly, emerging from behind Cloud's back, was a single black feathered wing. It emerged slowly from behind him, and then suddenly snapped open, revealing its full length. Raven black feathers floated slowly to the ground. Cloud reopened his eyes and glared maliciously at Sora.

"Stay still."

Then, without warning, Cloud charged at Sora, swinging his sword. It was done all in a second such that Sora had no time to move. One moment, Cloud's wing had emerged, and the next, he had come so close. Knowing that, as much as I wanted to help, there was nothing more I could do, Donald and I cast a barrage of Fire spells at Barret, forcing him back before he could resume attacking. The black man staggered as he made a few steps back, and then collapsed on the ground. I collapsed as well out of exhaustion, but I wasn't down for the count yet. _Give me a minute or two. Although I don't think we have that time._

During the second we took down Barret, Cloud had struck Sora and sent him spinning through the air, flying right into the arena barrier. As I fell to the floor, I heard Sora slam into the barrier headfirst, and then fell to the floor, heavily injured and unable to move. From where I lay, I saw Cloud walk slowly to Sora. After we stopped our attack and I collapsed in exhaustion, Donald just stood there, paralyzed in fear from what Cloud just did to Goofy, Gregorio, and Sora. Cloud stopped in front of the Key Bearer, standing poised with his sword in one hand. He stared down at Sora for a moment before shutting his eyes. He took in a slow even breath, opened his eyes, and slowly raised his sword into the air. I gasped in shock as I knew what he was about to do.

"W-What're you doing?", Sora weakly asked.

"Duty calls.", Cloud said.

I managed to hear the crowd gasp in shock. Phil, who watched in silence the whole time, dropped his clipboard and started to run into the arena. He was about to bark out some orders when he bumped into somebody tall and solid, dressed in a long black toga with blue fire for hair. I turned to look at him to see his eyes glimmer in excited malice. This was the guy from earlier at the entrance. Sora braced himself for the worst, closing his eyes, his entire body trembling in panic, his breathing coming in quick gasps.

"Donald…", I cried out.

The duck quickly snapped out of his trance, and came over and cast Cure on me and I was back on my feet. Just as Cloud was about to swing his sword down on Sora, I felt myself fly in a state of rage. As I saw a yellow 'marble' appear on one of my bracer's slots (which I then noticed later), as if on impulse, I decided to hurl my shield at Cloud, which spun in the air and headed for his sword. However, he managed to see it coming and made another swing with his sword. It hit the shield and it was deflected right at Donald. We were too paralyzed in fright to dodge as it knocked him out, then hit me square in the chest. I fell over to the floor and me head turned to Sora as he was about to receive the coup de grâce from Cloud.

Sora braced himself for the worst, closing his eyes, his entire body trembling in panic. Cloud was going to kill him! That's what he had been talking about before! This warrior was going to kill him! Sora's breathing came in quick gasps, his ribcage aching with every sharp intake of breath. I increasingly became panicked and thought whether I was next or not.

Just then, the arena barrier went away, Yoris, Goofy, Gregorio, and Donald were instantly revived thanks to some unexplained magic of the tournament rules. Looking about them in panic, they caught sight of Sora, completely defeated and kneeling in terror before a victorious Cloud Strife who had his large sword raised in the air. As I painfully got up, the four scrambled to their feet and began to run toward them, shouting Sora's name in panic. Cloud gripped the hilt of his weapon firmly in his hands as he looked down at Sora. Suddenly, the weapon was slowly lowered to the ground. Slowly, Cloud backed away from where Sora knelt in defeat.

As that happened, I managed to see the fire on Hades' head begin to burn in rage as I calmed down. As the four were healing Sora and themselves with Potions, I quaffed one myself as I managed to see Hades storm off somewhere. I then decided to look at my bracers and saw the yellow 'marble'. I didn't know how it appeared there, but it seemed to be different from the others, which were colored green with symbols in them, which I only noticed now. They each had a symbol representing the spells I had and the new yellow one had a spinning shield.

Just then, I saw a giant black paw land on the ground. I immediately looked to see Cloud under it. Phil jumped backward with a loud yell of alarm. Everyone in the bleachers gasped in shock, and all eyes followed the giant paw up to its owner. There, looming over us all was a gigantic three headed black dog. All three sets of sharp yellow teeth gleamed viciously, saliva dripping from the tips of the monster dog's fangs. All three pairs of evil red eyes glared down at the fragile creatures before them maliciously. The monster then reared back and released a loud round of howls.

While my companions grabbed onto Sora and tried to help him to his feet, he and I managed to catch sight of a familiar being.

"That guy…", Sora muttered as he was carried away.

"Oh, right.", the voice was saying casually. "There was one other rule I forgot: Accidents happen."

Upon the arrival of the large dog, the audience was in a state of slight terror and they started evacuating the area. I was a little perplexed as they didn't go in an outrght panic, running in chaos. Apparently, they've been drilled in the event giant creatures invaded the Coliseum.

"Cloud!", a voice came, interruptng my thoughts.

I turned to see Barret, back on his feet, but just barely. Just after Sora was taken onto the audience platform, I decided to help Barret there, his weight bearing down on me greatly as the monster stood and roared with Cloud under it. As the two of us made it with Phil and my companions, the beast turned all its heads on us, which all grinned malevolently. Then with a loud growl, the monster lunged at us, its many teeth gnashing together. Barret morphed his arm again, ready to attack, despite how tired he was, but the rest of us were scared out of our minds. Just before it could get to any of us, something dashed forward and stopped the creature, grabbing onto the central head's mouth and holding it wide open.

When we looked to our saviour, we saw a young man somewhere in his twenties. He was dressed in golden Grecian warrior armor with a small blue cape over his shoulders. He was obviously a trained fighter, as his entire body was practically chiseled and muscular. He looked at us while he held the creature's jaw open, his short, wavy red hair spilling over his headband into his face, his blue eyes fierce.

Phil looked over at the man, his face washing over with relief. "Herc!"

The Greek warrior glanced over his shoulder at the satyr briefly. "Phil!", he yelled commandingly. "Get them out of here!"

The satyr nodded before he jumped down to the ground from atop the audience platform. We all dashed out of the arena as fast as they could, together. I motioned Barret to do the same, who grudgingly complied. As I did that, Sora looked back at the Greek warrior as he exited. He saw him thrust the monster to the side, still holding it by the teeth and practically throw the beast to the ground. Barret and I bypassed him and he followed us back to the lobby.

Part IV. The Hercules Cup

We made our way to Olympus Coliseum, hearing (from Chip and Dale) that there's another tournament taking place. Once we landed, upon opening the doors, there was a wave of people that came right for us.

"Oh Zeus! It's Sora!", we heard a girl scream.

"Wow!", said another.

"Uh oh.", I groaned. "Here comes the fanclub." I raised one of my bracers and invoked, "Slow!" At once, the fanclub slowed in speed. "Let's go before it expires!"

Quickly, the six of us hurried to the lobby to inquire with Phil.

"Welcome back, junior heroes!", he called. "You came for the tournament?"

"Of course.", Sora answered.

"Did you know we were almost run over by a fanclub back there?", Gregorio said. "How'd they get in?"

"Really, I haven't the slightest idea either. You know the rules, right? We now have the Hercules Cup available."

"We're taking that.", Sora answered. "Together."

KHKHKHKHKH

As always, once we entered the arena, the crowd was already there, cheering for us, complete with fan gear and all. Sometime after the Pegasus Cup, Phil and Herc asked us what our team name would be. The term Lumus Squad came up and it stuck.

Upon entering the arena, the barrier manifested itself and we prepared for battle.

The 9th seed featured us up against five Gargoyles and three Shadows. The fight was hectic because of the former moving around the arena as wisps, but we made it through.

The 8th seed was composed of four Wight Knights, an Air Pirate, and two Barrel Spiders. We quickly detonated the Barrel Spiders and the rest were a cinch.

The 7th seed consisted of a Battleship and four Pirates.

"Now how do we fight something like that?", I asked incredulously.

"Together.", Sora answered.

Quickly, we all focused fire in the Battleship, pushing off the attacking Pirates, but not before I cast Mini on them. Immediately, they shrunk to a fifth of their size. Thanks to their small size, we were able to ignore the Pirates as we kicked them around while we attacked the Battleship. Once that was gone, we proceeded with any now-normal sized Pirates that remained.

The 6th seed pitted us against four Gargoyles and three Wight Knights. It was about as hard as the 9th seed, but we succeeded with minor injuries.

The 5th seed consisted of what the Diary identified as a Rare Truffle. It was colored blue and yellow.

"What's something like this doing here?", I asked no one in particular.

Sora just went over and started batting it into the air. He managed to get it stuck at a corner and kept bouncing it until he was bored. Upon landing, it disappeared, leaving an Elixir.

The 4th seed consisted of…a familiar figure we met back at Refuge Asylum. It was the white figure who goes by the moniker "Chosen One".

"Hey there, guys.", he said.

"Chosen One?", gasped Yoris.

"Yes, that's my moniker."

"What are you doing here?"

"Fighting in the tournament, of course. I've something to give you after the cup, but you'll have to defeat me first."

"What do you have for us?", asked Gregorio.

"While you guys have been looking for parts and torn pages, I've been looking for 99 missing dalmatian puppies."

"Puppies?"

"Yeah. They got separated from their parents and each other in groups of three when their world was destroyed. I managd to reunite all 99 of them. And trust when I say what I'll give you will be worth it."

"Okay."

"Now, enough expository banter. Let us fight like boys. And ducks." Donald just grunted. "And dog-men." Goofy perked up an ear. "For me, the Chosen One, it's…" We waited as he paused, weapons on the ready. Then, all of a sudden, he charged his fists and charged straight for me. I brought up my shield as I was pushed back. "What? Were you expecting me to finish?" He then jumped a ways from us. "Show me what you got."

With that, the six of us attacked.

KHKHKHKHKH

It was a very rough battle, but somehow, we succeeded. At the end of the battle, Chosen One got up.

"You show excellent promise, Key Bearer, Gun of Light wielder.", he said.

"Thanks.", replied Sora.

"You really think so?", I said.

"Yeah.", he replied. "Although that wasn't my true power. I was just going easy on you." We widened our eyes in disbelief.

"But you were so difficult!", said Donald.

"Why aren't you out there saving the world if you're much more powerful?", Sora asked.

"Only the Keyblade can stop the Heartles threat. And it chose you. Greater trials await, and this cup is one of them." There was a short pause. "I'm not good with these motivational speeches. See you after the cup."

With that, Chosen One left the arena as we quaffed some of our Elixirs. Once that was over with, the barier formed again as our next opponents appeared.

The 3rd seed composed of two Gargoyles, a Wight Knight, and four Pirates (two regular and two Air variants). I started with my new Petrify spell (which expended quite a bit of energy) and they turned stiff and grey, dropping to the ground. For some reason, the "Halloween Town" Heartless were immune and we dealt with them first. Once they were taken care of, we finished off the Pirates, which shattered and crumbled into bits as Hearts were released.

The 2nd seed pitted us against two Battleships, two Pirates, and an Air Pirate.

"Oh, come on!", Yoris complained. "Two Battleships? And we can't fly either!"

"Let's just get this over with.", I said.

We started with the Pirates, both regular and Air, finishing them off in a jiffy. Next, we focused on the Battleships, one at a time. In the end, we were all done.

After some rest nd recuperation, just before we could proceed to the 1st seed, Hercules came over. He had a sword in its holster tied to his belt.

"So, who are we facing in the final round?", Sora asked.

"Why, yours truly." Herc said as he indicated himself. "It ain't called the Hercules Cup for nothing."

"Oh, right."

"Well, show me what you got. All of you."

"Hercules, wait.", Sora said. "Let's go one-on-one!"

"Oh no you don't, Sora.", I said as I lay a hand onto his shoulder. "We're a team. And we're doing this together."

"Yeah.", Gregorio agreed. "Besides, I've always wanted to find out how tough a demigod could be."

"You're not denying us that chance.", said Yoris.

"All for one and one for all, remember?", Goofy added.

"Yeah!", agreed Donald.

"Okay.", said Sora.

"I'm not gonna go easy on any of you.", warned Hercules as we all went over to the arena and got ready to fight. Once the barrier formed, it was on.

Before we could even begin to take a step, Herc began to emit a golden aura. I knew this was not good for us. Suddenly, barrels appeared all over the place.

"Consider this a fighting chance.", said the demigod.

"With pleasure.", replied Sora as he picked up a barrel and hurled it at Hercules. Upon impact, his aura disappeared. We then got on the offensive.

However, our attacks didn't seem to be doing any effect on him as they didn't seem to be able to interrupt his moves. One of these was a charged punch that was aimed at Goofy. It landed, and the knight was sent flying across the arena and into the barrier wall. He then glowed again and jumped up into the air, ready to slam on the ground. We quickly moved out of the way as the demigod created a shockwave that rocked the battlefield. He then proceeded to spin like a top, sword out as he went. Sora went for another barrel, but they were all destroyed by Hercules as he spun.

"Now what do we do?", he complained

"I think I know what will work.", I said as I raised my arm and invoked, "Dispel!"

In an instant, there was a flash from Herc as white feathers floated above him and seemingly removed the aura. Donald and Yoris then proceeded to shoot down Hercules with spells and thunder balls. He stopped spinning and staggered from dizziness for a few seconds. However, it turns out that the demigod had a few other moves up his sleeve. Like a bull, he reared up and began to charge headfirst, plowing past anybody in his way. As he ran about, I saw him head right for Sora. As if on instinct, I went in the way, shield up, and was sent flying for my trouble. Somehow, mid-air, I turned around in such a way that my feet met the arena barrier, and I pushed myself off it, dismissed my shield, and landed on the ground, tumbling forward.

Gregorio and Sora took turns in going one on one in clashing weapons against Hercules, with Donald and Yoris pelting the demigod with spells. In one headbutt, Sora countered by thusting his Keyblade forward and it and the head met. Hercules recoiled from the hit and it provided all of us an opening as we barraged him with attacks. However, I then noticed him get his aura again. And that there was a ring around him and us. Worse, my allies haven't noticed yet.

"Guys! Out of the way!", I yelled as I retreated.

Only Sora was able to hear and he moved away as well. By the time the others caught on, it was too late as there was an explosion of energy. It knocked out Donald, Goofy, Gregorio, and Yoris in one hit. There was no time to get them back up into shape as Hercules began to charge again like a bull. I cast Float, hovered inches above the ground, and we both zipped out of harm's way. Once Hercules slowed down, Sora charged, Keyblade in hand, and went straight for Hercules as they clashed blades. I stood by and healed him as we went, trying to conserve our healing supplies for our trip to Hollow Bastion. I provided support fire whenever I could, always cautious not to hurt Sora. Every now and then, Hercules would get his aura back, but either Sora would then toss one of the many barrels which kept appearing, or I would cast Dispel on him. Eventually, Sora finished off Hercules with an ability revealed to have been obtained at Neverland; Ars Arcanum. Sora attacked with a flurry of slashes, then finished with a back-flip slash followed by a wide horizontal front flip slash. Hercules gave out and stumbled to the floor, unable to continue.

"And we have a winner!", Phil cried out as the crowd erupted into applause. "The Lumus Squad!"

"Finally, we did it.", said the Key Bearer. He then turned to me. "And I couldn't have done it without you guys."

"We were just more skilled than him, that's all.", I replied as I breathed heavily. "Herc's got the power all right, but without enough of it, one cannot hope to defeat their oponent."

"Congratulations, boys.", said Phil as he handed us a gold trophy while our comrades joined us, revived by the tournament rules. "You're the champs."

KHKHKHKHKH

Later…

We were back in the lobby, safe from our fans, with Hercules and Phil. Chosen One was there as well, but at a secluded corner.

"Wow! And I didn't even hold back!", said Hercules, amazed by our skill.

"Now I finally know what you mean about strength of heart.", Sora said to him and Phil. "Mine comes from my friends."

Phil seemed to drop his jaw, as if that wasn't what was supposed to be learned. "Come again?", he asked.

"If we stick together, we're unbeatable. Not even Hercules stands a chance. With these guys beside me, I'm ready for anything!"

"But that's not exactly what I—"

"Of course. Your friends give you strength.", said Herc as he picked up his trainer ike a doll. "Isn't that right, Phil? The six of you together make great heroes." He then set Phil down. "And as a team, I'm sure you can overcome anything." He offered a hand and Sora shook it. When they parted hands, it turns out that Sora had two Keychains in his hand. The first was made of metal links, and the token resembled a certain yellow bird. The other was made of several silver links, save for the first one, which was gold, and the token was a yellow 'coin' depicting a cloud and a thunderbolt.

"Cloud wanted me to give this to you. As for the other, that's **my** gift to you."

"Thanks, Herc.", said Sora.

"You think we can move the pedestal now?", Goofy asked.

"Maybe."

"I'm not so sure.", I voiced. "Then again, we have gotten stronger since last time, although not all of us have grown much in physical strength."

"We won't know until we try, right?", Yoris told me.

"Fine."

As one, in a coordinated manner, we worked together to push the pedestal. Much to our surprise, we were able to move it fairly easily now. When we finished moving it, we found out that a Keyhole was under the pedestal. Sora summoned his Keyblade, aimed it at the Keyhole, and shot a beam, locking it from the Heartless.

"Okay.", said Yoris. "Now that's over with…" We all turned to Chosen One.

"Well, here's what I owe you." He handed us a treasure chest. When we peered inside, it contained gummi blocks of all shapes, some Mythril materials, an Orichalcum, a Ribbon, a Torn Page, and a slightly larger green scroll in the same shade as that of the Aero scroll. "Save for the Mythril, the Orichalcum, the Ribbon, and the page, the Gummi blocks are all mine.", he said. "Don't store them in your bag, but in the Destiny. Until you finish the task I give you, the blocks are yours to use, okay?"

"Okay.", agreed Gregorio.

"Wait.", Phil said. "I believe I got something else for you guys."

"Hmm?"

Gummi Ship Time: Another Strike

Thanks to Chosen One, we were able to evade our fans and make it to our Gummi Ships. At the cockpit, I was customizing our Gummi Ships thanks to the "program" Cid had. He lent me a copy for personal use. The current model the Excalibur and Destiny were using were the _Cid _and _Leon _models respectively.

As I finished one model, which I called the _Falcon_, I saw that the "program" also had a feature where I could save my model in a small memory card. That's what I did, and I received a card from the "program". I put the card in a plastic case, then inside my bag. Meanwhile, the rest were checking out their new weapons.

Donald now wielded the Violetta, a orange staff with a purple-and-bright-blue striped pommel and a tip of the same colors that fanned outward. The head of the staff consisted of a large, bright blue ring with an orange hexagon in its center. Each of the hexagon's six sides sported a short, orange rod going through the ring and holding it in place, with the bottom rod connecting to the tip.

Goofy wielded a shield Hercules once used. It was circular and almost entirely bright yellow. Its face is adorned with a symbol of a cloud with a large, single lightning bolt flying from it.

Sora first tried out Herc's keychain and his Keyblade changed into something seemingly covered with marble. The handle and sides of the Keyblade's guard were now grey columns. The base of the guard was white, and the top resembled two white arms flexing their muscles. The shaft of the Keyblade was white with grey edges and the word "Hercules" was engraved into the white section. The teeth were set very high on the Keyblade, attached to the tip, resembling clouds.

After checking it out for a while, he then replaced it with Cloud's. The blade now resembled Cloud's own sword (were it not for the bandages), although it was obviously shaped like a key. At the base of the blade were two holes, one on top of the other, and there were three holes adjacent to the teeth. The guard and handle were red. He then seemed to nod in affirmation, obviously preferring this Keyblade more.

Just then, I realized something.

"Aww, man!", I complained. "We forgot **again**!"

"Again?", Sora asked through the comms system.

"To try and bring our friends' groups together!"

"Oh, right!"

"What about after Hollow Bastion?", Donald suggested. "It can wait, right?"

"Oh, all right."

-Remember, the Journal also updates on Sora's adventures in the 100 Acre Wood-

**Eeyore**

_Timid, retiring Eeyore lives in a little house in the roots of a tree. His tail is held on by a tack, but it keeps falling off and getting lost. Now he's wandering the woods, looking for a new home._

_He reluctantly appeared in "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966)._

**Roo**

_Roo dreams of bouncing as well as Tigger someday. He's mischievous, energetic, and fearless, but grows uneasy when Tigger is not around._

_He hopped onto the screen in "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966)._

**Flit**

_A hummingbird who lives in the forest where Indians once lived._

_He hovered into the scene in "Pocahontas" (1995)._

-A/N: Not a good entry, eh? See ya on Third!-


	18. Chapter 14: Hollow Bastion

nightelf37: Consarnit!

Kep: What's wrong?

nightelf37: I lost all the work I was working on! Now I have to start all over again! I think I might end up with something of as low a quality as when I first began all this.

nightelf37 breaks into tears. Kep sighs and turns to the readers.

Kep: Well, it must continue for the sake of KHR3. Remember, the OCs belong to him. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there, or the manga, or the movie where the current world is based on (if there even is), he 'owns' it. And here is 'his' current Power Orb inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Cure, Esuna, Regen, Fira, Thundara, Slow, Shell

(skills) Shield Boomer, Combo Shots

(summons) XR, Requiem, Flit

In storage:

(spells) Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Aero, Gravity, Poison, Silence, Stop, Charm, Confuse, Dispel, Blizzara, Blind, Immobilize, Disable, Haste, Float, Protect, Sleep, Mini, Petrify

(skills) Sky Dropper, Boomer Blast, Yoyo Shot, Aura Wave

(summons) Baloo, Bahamut (with Merlin)

nightelf37 recovers.

nightelf37: By the way, the spell Donald has on himself and Goofy sometimes also acts like what TV Tropes calls a Perception Filter. Sorry I was gone here for so long. I was busy in F**iM**Fiction . Net. They got lots of good fics there, so much so that I have made a "Shisno Chronicles" starring my original character in there.

Chapter 14: Hollow Bastion

Part I. Losses and Gains

_A 'furry' lay on a stone floor. Something told me from the start that in spite of its bulky frame, it was female. She was an anthropomorphic Ixi, a deer Neopet. She was red…well, magenta, and wore a uniform of some kind. It was mainly brown, but there were also armor plating in a few places, some blue on the uniform and a shield insignia. The shield was yellow, had a crown in the center, and was 'split' in four parts. Two 'parts' were horizontal stripes of red and maroon, and the other two were blue._

_She got up, and looked up to see a castle ahead._

KHKHKHKHKH

_She was in a garden, presumably inside the castle, where she was fighting a brown creature who seemed to be a mix of wild boar, wolf, buffalo, bear and lion. He wore a torn purple cape and dark blue pants. He charged at her, but she fended off his blows._

_"Beast! Stop!", a voice came._

_Both stopped and turned to see a maiden with her hair tied back with a blue bow. She wore a blue dress, a white shirt and apron, and black shoes._

KHKHKHKHKH

_"So, you're name's Ilsa.", said the maiden (whose name was Belle) as the three of them walked down the hall._

_"Yes."_

_"Sorry about Beast. He's yet to control his temper better. Still, it's amazing you held your own against him."_

_Ilsa turned to Beast. "No hard feelings?"_

_"No. I was at fault."_

KHKHKHKHKH

_Ilsa lay on her bed in a room provided by Beast. Just then, a flying letter made its way right into her face. She opened it and read it._

KHKHKHKHKH

_Ilsa was at the library, reading a book. A candelabra stood at the table with her, lighting the room. This candelabra was able to talk, but she wasn't surprised, having been explained the curse in the castle's inhabitants (sans Belle and herself)._

_"Just a curious question.", said the candelabra. "Where are you from?"_

_"I told you that I don't wish to divulge that information."_

KHKHKHKHKH

_Ilsa was now in the ballroom, watching Belle (in a yellow dress) and Beast (in a blue tuxedo) dancing together. She didn't join as she had no partner to dance with, she didn't know how to dance what they were dancing, and because she doesn't like to wear dresses (not that the wardrobe had any that can fit her)._

_Just then, what they would later recognize as Heartless appeared, causing mayhem. Beast and Ilsa immediately went to protect Belle. However, as the fight wore on, their 'defenses' slipped and she was taken away by a man in green._

_As the world began to fall into darkness, the two did their best to attempt to pursue the kidnapper, but Ilsa can't help but notice something crystallize..._

KHKHKHKHKH (1)

"All right! We're here!", Donald cried out.

I woke up with a start. I was in the Destiny, with Gregorio at the controls, and Yoris at the seat next to me. As usual, there was conversation between us and at the Excalibur with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Gregorio terminated visual communication and we saw the world ahead. It looked like a castle, but it looked grotesque in a steampunk kind of way. I gulped in nervousness.

"Let's go." Gregorio said as the Excalibur continued on to the world while he 'parked' the Destiny.

We went to the Transwarp Room, and were teleported down to where Sora and the others were. We checked our surroundings. We (and the Excalibur) were on a floating rock platform, surrounded by more of them in different sizes and a rising waterfall. Far ahead was the castle.

"Gawrsh, look at that!", said Goofy.

"I know this place…", Sora suddenly muttered.

"You do?", asked Yoris.

"Hmm, that's strange.", mused Gregorio.

"I wonder why… I feel this warmth inside, right here." Sora lay a hand onto his heart.

"Aw. you're just hungry.", Donald teased.

"Hey, I'm serious!" Suddenly, we heard a roar from a distance away. "Let's go!"

"Right.", we chorused.

"But…", I said. "I'm nervous around heights."

Suddenly, Sora jumped and…glided all the way to another rock platform. Following were Goofy and Donald. Needless to say, we were surprised.

"You still have that pixie dust on you?", I asked, remembering Tinker Bell.

"You remember that scroll I got at Neverland after we beat up Captain Hook?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, that scroll grants us the skill of temporary gliding. We can't fly upward, but we can do what we did just moments ago."

"How do you do it?"

"Just think happy thoughts."

I just ignored him and attempted to jump to one of the nearby platforms. I fell short and ended up falling to the water below…and landed on the surface.

"Okay.", said Yoris. "That's just weird." He went over to where I was and offered a hand. Just as I took it, I entered 'vision mode' again.

Judging by the surroundings, 'I' was further ahead to the castle. Riku and Windelle stood on one platform, and two 'furries' at another. One was brown and wore a cape and pants. The other wore a uniform of some kind. Both had bulky frames and looked like they could crush the two they were facing. Before I could identify them, the memory became fuzzy in my mind.

"No vessel, no help from the Heartless…", Riku said.

"Interesting.", mused Windelle. "So tell us, how'd you get here?"

"I simply believed.", said the brown one in a gruff and deep voice. "Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here." He straightened himself in rage. "I will have her back!"

"Take her if you can.", taunted Windelle.

"With pleasure!", said the red one, whose voice was less gruff, female even, as they both jumped to the platform where their opponents were. Riku and Windelle performed a back flip, dodging a slash from the brown furry and a punch from the red one. Riku then charged at the brown furry, his black sword in his right hand. Windelle summoned the GunDeLuna, aimed with both hands, and shot at the red furry. Both were sent to the other side of the platform and they fell over from their injuries.

"Stop!", a voice came.

'Vision mode' ended as we arrived at the platform. We now stood right next to the two furries they just beat.

"So, you finally made it.", said Windelle. "About time. I've been waiting for you."

"We've always been rivals, haven't we?", said Riku to Sora. "You've always pushed me as I've always pushed you."

"Riku…"

"But it all ends here. There can't be two Keyblade masters."

"Only two can wield the Guns of Light.", Windelle told me. "And you're not one of them."

"What are you talking about?", Sora and I asked them.

"Let the Keyblade choose…its true master."

"Let me show you what I mean."

Both of them stretched out their free hands to us. Suddenly, the Keyblade and Gun of Light appeared in our hands. They then started to get pulled towards them by an invisible force. Of course, we did our best to keep them in our hands, but they then disappeared.

"Huh?", gasped Donald and Yoris.

"What!", gasped Gregorio and Goofy.

The Keyblade then appeared in Riku's hand, but as the form it took before Sora ever applied any keychains. My DirLuxGun appeared in Windelle's hand alongside his GunDeLuna.

"Maleficent was right.", said Riku. "You don't have what it takes to save Kairi. It's up to me. Only the Keyblade master can open the secret door…and change the world."

"But that's impossible.", protested Sora. "How did this happen? We're the ones who fought our way here with those weapons!"

"You were naught but mere couriers.", said Windelle. He then turned to me. "You really don't possess the will that's needed to wield one of these." He held up the DirLuxGun mockingly to me. "It was mistaken to think you got what it takes."

"Sorry, your part's over now. Here, go play hero with this." Riku took out a wooden sword and tossed it to Sora. As it landed at his feet, the former Key Bearer fell to his knees in disappointment. I was merely speechless with disbelief. Just then, Donald began to walk forward.

"Goofy. Let's go. We have to remember our mission."

"You can't be serious!" cried out Yoris. "You're really gonna abandon Sora like this?"

"The king told us to follow the key and all…", Goofy said.

"Even if it means leaving our friend.", finished Donald.

"So…all those times we had together, all those times we saved each other's necks…have they meant nothing at all to you?", asked Gregorio.

"I'm sorry!", Donald cried out as he turned away and ran off to join Windelle and Riku. As Goofy followed, Sora turned to face the ones who remained.

"So you're gonna leave me too, huh?", he muttered bitterly.

"Now where did that come from?", asked Yoris incredulously. "In case you forgot, we're not under anyone's orders like Goofy and Donald! We're your friends! We're not gonna leave you behind!"

"Windelle may be closer to us than you, but I can feel he's changed. The old him that we know is gone.", added Gregorio.

"What about you?", he then asked me.

"Well…I just have a feeling that you are my way back home and not them.", I replied. "And besides, there's no way I'm gonna go over to the dark side under any circumstances."

Just then, the two that Riku and Windelle have felled managed to get up and have managed to bypass us. However, they were still hurt and they fell to the floor once again. We immediately came to their assistance.

"Hey, don't move.", said Sora. "You're hurt."

"Why… Why did you…you come here?", the brown one asked. He didn't bother to wait for an answer as he got up. "I came to fight for Belle. And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her. That's why I'm here."

"Me too. I'm not gonna give up now. I came here to find someone very important to me."

I came over to the red one, "What about you?", I asked, then seemed to remember. "Oh wait…I know y—" She raised a finger to my mouth to silence me.

"Later.", she whispered. She then got up to her feet and raised her right hand to the air. It glowed a pale green color. The light slowly began to grow in intensity, and she waved her hand as if casting a spell. Her entire body glowed pale green for a brief moment with a few leaves associated with the Cure spell appeared. As the leaves and glow faded away, she straightened herself, seemingly in better shape than before.

She then turned to her brown companion. "Here, Beast.", she said as she aimed her hand at him, her hand glowing green as she cast Cure on him. Once the spell was done, he looked better than before.

He then turned to her. "Thanks… Ilsa.", he said.

"You're welcome. Remember that you're not alone. I'm here to help you. We may still not be the closest of friends, but I'm not gonna let those vile vermin do what they want."

As she spoke, I reached into my bag and took out two certain items I have collected during our adventure. Sora, Gregorio, and Yoris recognized them.

"Hey, aren't those…", said the once-Keyblade wielder.

"Yes.", I answered. "Clayton's machete and Jafar's staff." I handed him the former. "This should prove more useful than that toy of a weapon Riku gave you." I then gripped the latter in my left hand as I then called up my shield. "Luckily, I still got this. And we still got our magic."

"Okay.", said Yoris. "Now that we got ourselves properly armed again, let's get moving."

I picked up the wooden sword and stowed it inside my bag, and then we were on our way. Well, until we realized that the castle was much farther than we thought. Almost half a mile of water was in the way. And even if we could walk on water, we saw that the castle's entrance was elevated.

Just then, Ilsa noted a floating rock platform a ways to the right of the big rock platform we were on, but within jumping distance. We went to that platform and (one by one) jumped on it, then to another, eventually reaching another rock platform that was above where we had confronted Windelle and Riku.

At the end of the platform was an arch (minus the top portion). We walked up to it, then saw a large, lift-like device headed our way from the castle on an invisible line. Together, we boarded it, and I felt nervous all the while, wondering if it could hold us all. Luckily, it did and the lift was moving again.

Part II. Exploring the Castle

As the lift headed for the castle, Ilsa pulled me aside and away from the others.

"Okay.", she said. "You seem to know me. What else do you know?"

"Uhh…that you're a Neopet. A red Ixi. I remember seeing you in the Altador Cup. You're the Center Defender in Team Meridell."

"Hold on a second. Are you…a user?"

"Yes. Just what are you doing all the way out here with Beast?"

"Well…" She leaned in closer to me. "Could you keep this a secret?"

"Okay."

"While all you have said is true, I'm also an operative of a secret organization called the Neopets Agency. I don't know everything about its motives, but four of my fellow operatives—who are also my teammates in my Yooyuball career—went missing on a cross-world mission. Two more of my teammates and I decided to follow them. Without orders. Unfortunately, we got separated and I ended up in Beast's world. I believe you can discern the rest."

"Let me guess, you befriended Beast and Belle. Sometime after, the Heartless attacked and kidnapped Belle. And you and Beast followed."

"That's just about accurate. Oh yeah. You haven't introduced yourselves yet."

"Oh, sorry." I rubbed the back of my neck as we stood up straight. "My name's Rael." I then gestured to the others and indicated them. "These are Sora, Gregorio, and Yoris." As I turned back to face Ilsa, I saw that she seemed to have reacted to the names as she froze in place. "Uhh…is there something wrong?"

I didn't get my answer as the lift finally stopped. We finally got off and took a good look at our surroundings. As we left the lift, to our left was a strange contraption of some kind. Ilsa guessed it was a switch. Ahead was a pathway leading to a pair of double doors (actually, it made a left turn, **then** right to the doors). To our right was a pathway leading to an iron gate.

"Okay…", Gregorio said. "Which way?"

"Let's head for the gate. ", suggested Yoris.

"But shouldn't the double doors be our obvious choice?", said Sora. "I mean, it leads deeper into the castle."

"Fine."

And that's where we went, but no matter how much we tried, the door remained shut. Not even Beast's and Ilsa's combined strength could budge it.

"I think magic is keeping this door locked.", voiced Ilsa. "No wonder we can't get through."

"Perhaps we should head for the gate, just like you suggested.", said Sora.

"What did I tell you?", snarked Yoris.

Before he could be answered, Heartless appeared. There were some Darkballs, but there were also one of another kind.

They were tall knights clad in purple and blue armor with white trim and yellow buttons, a purple head, and a silver jaw. The arms and torso much larger than the head and legs; the arm not holding its shield resting ape-like on the ground.

That shield had a simple blue and light blue pattern with gold trim around a very large and very dangerous blue-black dog head, complete with sharp fangs and spiked collar. This 'dog' also had three glowing yellow eyes arranged in a triangle formation.

"Defender.", said the Diary. "Heartless that mostly appear in Hollow Bastion. They carry an eerie shield with a face that casts Fire and Blizzard and bites nearby enemies."

"Who was that?", Ilsa asked as Beast rushed at the Heartless, plowing through the Darkballs with ease, but meeting resistance from the Defender.

"Just my Diary.", I replied as the Defender's shield shot a fireball, pushing Beast back.

Ilsa decided to take over and gripped the shield with her arms, trying to yank it off of the Heartless's hand even as the dog head tried to bite at her. Yoris then shot a thunderball that curved and tore through the Darkballs. Then Gregorio leaped over Ilsa to finish off the Defender. Upon destruction, Ilsa fell over on her back, still holding the shield, which then shrunk for some reason. Also, its head seemed to cease all animation.

"Now that's weird.", Ilsa said as she got up. "What do you want to do with this?"

"We take it with us.", I found myself saying as I then gestured to my bag. "I don't know why, but I believe it'll be useful."

"What?", gasped Sora as Ilsa offered the shield to me. "You're taking a weapon that was from a Heartless?"

I just shrugged my shoulders as I stowed the shield inside my bag. We then headed for the gate Yoris mentioned earlier and it opened upon our approach. We saw another of those switches ahead. Sora went up and touched it and we saw a circular platform begin to move. It hung the same way as the lift we took to the castle, but on translucent pink lines, much simpler-looking, and much more risky to stay on as they lacked railings. Unfortunately, it was above our heads, so getting on them was out of the question.

"Perhaps later.", suggested Gregorio. We then found another switch a few paces away, which led to a precarious edge (as well as a pink line). As usual, Sora touched it and a lift rose from the edge. We boarded it as it then descended to a strange underground area. Darkballs promptly appeared the moment we exited the lift.

Sora charged as usual, swinging the machete like he would the Keyblade. Fortunately, he never performed Strike Raid as that only works with the Keyblade. As a matter of fact, he was unable to use any of his Keyblade skills at all with his current weapon. And the machete naturally proved to be weaker, although it was still capable of taking down the Heartless. _Looks like it was a good thing I took it back at Deep Jungle._, I thought.

Still, without the Keyblade, Sora proved very inefficient in fighting the Heartless. As for me, my contribution to the team wasn't all on wiping out Heartless with the DirLuxGun. As such, I only proved to be slightly less useless without the Gun of Light, not that that made me feel better. While I wasn't able to use any magic Jafar once used with his staff, it still served as a means of channeling my Power Orbs' magic, or at least in aiming. While I was just as capable of casting magic through my hands, I wasn't comfortable with doing offensive spells through them.

As it was, most of the Heartless-pounding was thanks to the others, particularly Beast and Ilsa. It wasn't like we were just leaving it to them; the two of them looked like they had more than a bone to pick with them and their summoners. The water in the area was like the one in where we first met; we didn't fall through for some reason. Once the Heartless were dealt with, we then took into account the strange bubbles in the room.

Like before, Sora was the first to get curious. Just as we all gathered around it, he touched it and everything began to go strange. All of a sudden, my vision went extremely blurry and I felt like I was supposed to hurl yet I didn't. Then, I returned to my senses as we all landed on the water's surface; I then realized we'd been transported somehow. Gregorio immediately smacked Sora with the butt of his 'javelin'.

"Stupid!", he told him. "Next time, don't poke around like that! What's the matter with you? You lost some of your brain cells when Riku took the Keyblade from you?"

"Sorry I wasn't thinking straight.", the former Keyblade master apologized. "It's just that I feel that Kairi's somewhere in here. And every second we don't find her is a second she's in danger. I can't stop now."

"We feel the same way, but we can't go on without you.", Gregorio replied.

"Well, we can, but it won't be the same.", corrected Yoris. "And what will Kairi think when we rescue her without you? She may put the blame on herself and I don't think you'd want that, would you?"

Sora paused to ponder on this. "…You're right. I'm sorry."

KHKHKHKHKH

After a couple more minutes of traversing, we found ourselves somewhere deep, dark, and dank. While some of us knew how to cast Fire spells, we had nothing that could serve to hold it. Thankfully, Gregorio had snitched a flashlight from the Destiny, but that would leave one of us defenseless while we use it. While Ilsa can fight back effectively if she were holding it, the safety of the gadget can't be guaranteed. I volunteered to hold it, and it turns out I can still cast magic even with it in my hand.

We encountered a few walls with cracks, which Beast make short work of, but we were still hopelessly lost, fighting more Heartless as we went. It was hard not having the Gun of Light or the Keyblade (especially the latter) and it was difficult getting used to leaving nearly everything to our comrades. While we can still use magic, neither of us were at Donald's level of expertise.

We also encountered shifting doors (which even Beast cannot break) and switches for them. After a harrowing time, we encountered a control panel of sorts…and a Defender Heartless on guard. Its shield roared and shot a fireball at me, which I shielded myself from. I then aimed the flashlight at it and cast Thundara. The bolts hit the Heartless and it reeled back a bit. Beast charged, but the Defender pushed him back…and left itself open to a thunderball from Yoris. Gregorio followed up with a thrust of his javelin and it was eliminated.

We then approached the control panel and wondered what it did, save for Beast, who couldn't care less. "I wonder what this is?", Yoris mused.

"Whatever it is, I think there's a switch.", Sora answered. He then went over to a blue button of some kind and pushed it. It promptly glowed and the gears just in front of the control panel began to turn. We could also hear something rumble, which Ilsa guessed to be a door opening.

"Back to the castle gates?", Yoris spoke up before anyone else could speak.

"Guess so."

With that, we made our way back to the castle doors, fighting Heartless as usual. Of course, I put away the flashlight after we were out of that dark section of the castle. We soon made it to the large double doors and when Sora pushed it, they parted easily. Just as we crossed the doors, I received another vision.

Part III. A Fight With Old Friends

'I' was now in a large chamber. In two sides of the wall I could see Jasmine, Alice, and four other maidens I swore I knew, but my memory of them, like most, was fuzzy. They were all encased in capsules of some kind an put in some sort of stasis. 'I' then turned to the center to see a purplish cylindrical capsule of magic that contained the sleeping form of Kairi. Suddenly, 'I' felt two figures bypass me from either side. I gasped in shock to see it was Maleficent and Xin. As they also bypassed the 'object' holding Kairi, they made their way up some stairs. The short path split into two more stairways, leading to a certain area above. But they stopped at that point and turned around.

"O purest of hearts!", Maleficent declared as she spread her arms wide. "Reveal to us the Keyhole!"

With that, six beams of pink light emerged from the six imprisoned maidens and converged somewhere near the high ceiling, then to somewhere in the area above the two dark leaders. Then, the vision ended as I found myself and my companions entering what seemed to be the castle's entrance hall. In front of us was a fountain, and on either side of it were stairs leading to the area above it. Pillars circled the entire area as support.

"Be on your guard.", Beast warned. "They're close, I can feel it. Are you ready for them?"

Sora, Yoris, Gregorio, and I nodded as we then walked forward. Suddenly, Beast reacted as if sensing something from behind. He turned around and Ilsa followed suit. I turned around as well to see a maiden in a yellow dress.

"Belle!", Beast cried out.

Darkness then engulfed her and she was gone, a Shadow Heartless in its place. Beast became furious and let out a war cry, lunging at the Shadow.

"Wait!", Ilsa warned as Sora and the others turned around. "It's a trap!" However, it was too late as the door closed, leaving him stranded and out of any battle that might take place here at any time.

"Quit while you can.", a voice came.

_Oh dear._, I thought as we all turned around. Riku, Windelle, Donald, and Goofy were here.

"No.", Sora replied defiantly. "Not without Kairi."

"And Florina too!", added Gregorio and Yoris.

Immediately, Riku and Windelle were surrounded by darkness for a split second as their appearances changed.

Riku now wore a form-fitting suit that appeared to be made of black muscle tissue. The black faded to red around the wrists and came with purple gloves tucked under the suit, which had a purple-blue color on the chest and part of the torso with the Heartless emblem on the chest. The suit had purple feet and shins that faded into black legs, a dark purple belt, and an off-white cloth around his waist that faded into dark purple, was ripped all around at the bottom, and opened in the front.

As for Windelle, his change was much simpler. All that happened was that his entire appearance—save for his skin and eyes—have reversed colors; his boots were now white, his pants silver, his shirt grey, and his hair close to pitch black.

"The darkness will destroy you all.", warned Windelle.

"You're wrong, Windelle.", Sora countered. "The darkness may destroy our bodies, but it can't touch our hearts. Our heart will stay with our friends. It'll never die!"

"Really… Well, we'll just see about that!", Riku reared up his left hand and then launched a fireball of dark energy right for us. Windelle summoned both the GunDeLuna and the DirLuxGun, aimed them both at us, and fired a Charge Shot from each. Immediately, Ilsa brought herself in front of the attacks, but she didn't seem to be about to just take the blow. Instead, she looked like she was about to cast a spell. I didn't know how I knew that, I just did.

Just then, someone went into the fireball's way; Goofy had come over to protect us. As for the Charge Shots, they were repelled by a barrier of light that flashed into existence for a second. I also saw Ilsa's hands glow in the same color as the barrier. _Just what was that spell?_, I wondered.

"Sora ain't gonna go anywhere!", Goofy declared.

"You'd betray your king?", asked Windelle.

"Not on your life!" He then turned to us. "But I'm not gonna betray them, either. 'Cause they've become my best buddies after all we've been through together!" He then turned to face Donald, who still stood with Windelle and Riku. "See ya later, Donald. Could ya tell the king I'm really sorry?"

"Hold on, Goofy!", the court wizard yelled back. "We'll tell him together." And with that, he ran all the way back to us. "Well, you know… All for one and one for all."

"I guess you're stuck with us.", Goofy told Sora, who looked down as if he was disappointed.

"Thanks a lot…Donald, Goofy." He then shed a tear of joy. We all then turned to Riku and Windelle, who haven't made a move against us. Yet. Well, Riku did summon the Keyblade, but that was it for now.

"How will you fight without a weapon?", Riku taunted. He was answered by Sora pulling out the machete and me taking out the staff.

"I know now I don't need the Keyblade. I've got a better weapon. My heart."

"Your heart?", Windelle scoffed. "What good will that weak little thing do for you?"

"Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone. It's grown with each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've made. I've become a part of their heart just as they've become a part of mine. And if they think of me now and then…if they don't forget me…then our hearts will be one." We all then readied for battle. "I don't need a weapon. My friends are my power!"

"Now I know for sure you're not Windelle!", Gregorio suddenly accused.

"Yeah.", agreed Yoris as Windelle stepped back, slight shock on his face. "He'd never say anything detrimental against something that sentimental." Another step back. "He'd never sacrifice others to save anybody." A third step back. "He's as noble as a knight." A fourth. "And also…"

"He **never** leaves anybody behind if he can help it!", they both declared.

At that second, both the Keyblade and the DirLuxGun disappeared from their hands. Sora and I (somehow) dropped our weapons in surprise as they returned to our hands.

_I'm sorry for leaving you._, I heard a voice in my head. _He somehow managed to pull away by some unknown means. Your friends' accusations weakened it enough for me to come back. I'm not leaving you ever again._

_Uhh…thanks, I guess._, I thought back as we then resumed battle stances. Windelle then snapped his fingers and the invisible barrier thing appeared again, forming around him, then expanding to engulf the rest of us. Ilsa was caught by it and the barrier stopped expanding just at the door, pinning her there as well as preventing Beast from returning should he return.

Then, in anger, Riku summoned his black sword and rushed at us. As everyone else jumped right over him, I wasn't fast enough and had to shield myself from his attack. He was able to push me back a considerable distance. Meanwhile, as I then shot back at him, Sora had turned around to face his former friend while Donald and Goofy helped Gregorio and Yoris in confronting theirs. The lancer seemed most ticked off as he made plenty of jabs at Windelle, who dodged with ease. He was soon caught off guard by a Blizzara from Donald. Following up were a shield smash from Goofy and a thunderball from Yoris.

As they were doing that, Riku and Sora were clashing blades with one another as I then turned my attention to Windelle, seeing I wouldn't be of much help and might be more of a hindrance. The GunDeLuna wielder was very nimble in his moves, and was easily pushng back my allies. I aimed my DirLuxGun at him and invoked, "Slow!" A blue clock appeared at the top of his head and his movements…slowed.

Together, Donald and Yoris bombarded him with Thunder attacks. Then, Goofy bashed him upside with his shield. Following that, Gregorio performed a series of jabs, smacked him with the back of his 'javelin', delivered a kick, then jumped to where Riku was fighting Sora, who was in a real bind.

Sora was cornered to a wall and Riku has smacked his Keyblade out of his hands. He was about to then bring down his blade on him when Sora managed to quickly recall it to block Riku's attack. Following that was a back attack from Gregorio and a Fira spell from me, both hitting Riku. Just then, I had a feeling someone was coming from behind. I immediately turned around…in time to intercept a volley of shots from Windelle, who was now on the top of the railing of the stairs.

Goofy, Yoris, and Donald were about to follow him up when Windelle then slid down the railing, jumped off it once reaching the bottom, and pounced on Sora and Gregorio, getting them off of Riku. The latter then rushed for me and I only had just enough time to defend myself. His black sword met with my shield and I was pushed back yet again. I attempted to shove him off and—to my surprise—I did so.

One of my yellow Power Orbs then glowed as I focused my aim on him. One shot came out and hit him. Another followed, then another, and then five more, each in quick succession. Following that, a Charge Shot readied itself in my DirLuxGun as the last of the eight shots hit him. Before Riku could try and move away, the Charge Shot left my DirLuxGun and struck him in the gut. (And I realized this was the Combo Shots ability.)

He reeled back from the attack…and Windelle slammed into him from behind, having been hurled there by Gregorio. Sora then rushed in and delivered a heavy beating in the form of Ars Arcanum. Once he finished his combo, Yoris launched a thunderball that exploded at the ground near them and sent them right into the center of the 'battlefield' as Sora and I jumped out of the way.

The two of them lay sprawled on the floor, then got up within a few seconds as the six of us then surrounded them. I noticed Ilsa join us seconds later and I knew the battle was over. Just then, Riku and Windelle reverted to their normal appearances as they got off of one another and stood up.

"This isn't over!", swore Riku as the two of them then flawlessly jumped up to the stairs, ascended them, and vanished from sight. I was mildly surprised from this, but I presumed their "dark" forms had something to do with it. (2) To my surprise—as well as Donald and Goofy's—Sora, Gregorio, and Yoris didn't pursue them.

"Why'd you let them go?", Donald asked.

"Because we have more important things to do.", answered Sora. "Like finding Maleficent and Xin and ending this once and for all."

"Yeah.", Yoris agreed. "That Windelle's an impostor. Either that or…someone's using his body somehow."

"Either way, he's not himself and it's **their** fault.", Gregorio finished. "Anyway, that battle was short." Suddenly, we could hear another set of footsteps. We turned to see Beast, who had managed to return after the fight.

"So, your heart won this battle.", he said to Sora.

The once again-Keyblade wielder nodded in affirmation.

"Now that your weapons have returned, what should we do with those?", Ilsa asked as she indicated the dropped machete and staff.

"I'm pretty sure Kairi would be defenseless once she wakes up.", Yoris stated as he picked them up.

"I'll be there to protect her!", Sora pointed out as he put a closed hand to his heart.

"It's for the worst-case scenario.", Gregorio said as the weapons were stored in my bag. "Which, of course, we'll be working our hardest to prevent from happening."

"Just a second, Ilsa.", I said. "What was that spell you used to repel those shots before we got our weapons back?"

"That was the Reflect spell.", she answered. "It requires proper timing to execute well."

With that, we ascended the steps to where Riku and Windelle last fled. At the center of this area was a small hallway leading to a door. We approached it and saw that it had the Heartless emblem. Each of the four sections were empty depressions. To me at least, it was as if there were some things that were meant to be inserted into them.

Surprisingly, Ilsa had the same opinion as she voiced it out after pushing at it to no avail. "I have a feeling we're supposed to find the pieces somewhere in this castle."

"Ya know, I noticed that there was another door on the left back there.", Goofy said as he thumbed back to where we left. We followed him and indeed there was a door. It was barely visible when we first climbed the steps, but it was indeed there.

"Why is it that Goofy is able to notice things we all miss?", Donald asked himself as Sora pushed the doors open. Upon entering, we saw that it was a library. Although, it seemed to be a bit maze-like to us right now. We walked along its green floor and quickly found a dead end. Suddenly, Sora noted that at the bottom of the shelf was a line of red books. His eyes quickly turned to a dropped book titled "Khama vol. 8" somewhere at Beast's feet.

"Excuse me.", he said as he went over to the book and picked it up. He then pushed the book into its "proper place" on the shelf and it began to slide to the right, revealing more of the library as well as a curved staircase leading to the floor above, a square table and chairs for lounging.

"Okay, now that's strange.", mused Ilsa. "How about we rest for a bit? That fight with your once-friends must have taken a lot on you."

"Yeah, I guess.", Sora sighed.

"I'm gonna have a look around.", I found myself saying as I cast Float on myself and hovered around the area.

Part IV. Deeper and Higher

After resting, we found another exit to the library and ended up inside a labyrinth of lifts. Then, we managed to make our way out of it. We then found another one and entered a dark area. It seemed to be a circular balcony of some kind. In the middle of the room was a platform hanging by the ceiling and blocked off by two panels with a lightning bolt depicted on them. Upon looking over the edge, we saw the room where we (save for Ilsa and Beast) engaged Riku and Windelle in battle.

We navigated it and met a few obstacles. Sora decided to tinker around with some of the decor. First, he broke two pots on two pedestals, after which the fountain in the room below started to operate, flushing out a peculiar piece in the process. Next, he lighted up the eight candles between the four stone feline heads with Fire, which resulted in something at the center of the room to react. Third, he found a stone etched with a thunderbolt standing on a ledge and cast Thunder on it, which resulted in the panels blocking the hanging platform lower themselves and float around and move.

Deciding to verify later whether the piece at the bottom was one of what we needed, we went over to the hanging platform and fetched the piece there, then continued to walk around, looking for something…anything. As we wandered around the balcony, Ilsa leaned onto a statue depicting some kind of horned creature.

"We're wasting time here.", complained Beast.

"We're all aware of that, you kn—whoa!" All of a sudden, the statue Ilsa was leaning on began to move. Ilsa moved away as it fell off over the ledge it was next to and dropped to the ground, shattering to pieces…and revealing a piece inside.

"What just happened?", Sora asked as he leaned on a pedestal. Before anybody could answer, the pedestal he was leaning on began to move a bit. The Keyblade wielder jumped back in surprise, then curiously pushed it towards where it began to move. It finally stopped somewhere and we somehow sensed something appear.

Using one of the floating platforms, we descended to where we clashed with our old friends not too long ago to pick up the pieces, confirming that they were all for the Heartless emblem door. As we did, Donald caught our attention and pointed to a treasure chest.

"I'm sure that thing wasn't there last time.", the court wizard said.

Sora went over to the chest as the rest of us walked over to the small hallway that led to the door with the Heartless emblem. Sora shortly returned, confirming that it was another piece for it. One by one, we inserted the pieces and the door began to lift itself open once the last piece was in place. Just then, I entered 'vision mode' once again.

'I' found myself in a dark hallway. Too dark for me to make out any details save for golden torches lit by green flames. 'I' then heard footsteps coming from behind. Before 'I' could turn around, two figures passed through me. It was Windelle and Riku.

"Why?", Riku asked himself as 'I' followed. "It was mine."

"Know this.", a different voice came. It was…familiar. 'I', as well as Riku and Windelle, turned around to see—the mysterious figure Sora and I encountered back in the Secret Place in Destiny Islands! And he emerged from a black portal he summoned. This time around, he was covered in a sinister blue aura. "The heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade."

"What? You're saying my heart's weaker than his?"

"For that instant, it was." Riku shook his head, as if unable to believe it. "However, you can become stronger. You showed no fear in stepping through the door to darkness. It held no terror for you. Plunger deeper into the darkness, and your heart will grow even stronger."

'I' turned back to Riku, and could tell that he was desperate. Desperate to do **anything** to best Sora. Even if it means accepting the mysterious figure's offer. As for Windelle, his expression was unreadable to me. "What should I do?"

"It's really quite simple. Open yourself to the darkness. That is all. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself." Like before with Xin, a green glow encompassed Riku's body. Again, he seemed to be taking it in very well as the energy coursed within him.

Then all of a sudden, the 'vision' ended and I found myself running with the rest as we dizzyingly made our way across a strange room called the Lift Stop. It seemed to be tall and had a lot of stories. There was one of those lifts in front of us as well as a switch. There were also thin green beams serving as a fence so as we wouldn't fall off.

"What just happened to Rael?", asked Ilsa. By now, I knew what she meant.

"It happens all the time.", said Yoris. "No use worrying about it."

As we approached the switch, we discovered it was unresponsive. Goofy looked to the left and located another one a few paces away. He went over to it and activated it, turning it from red to blue. After returning with us, we activated the first switch and the green beams parted to let us into the lift. Once we all boarded it, it took us to an area on the floor above. However, there seemed to be nothing much there save for a small platform too small for even Donald to balance on well. There was a treasure chest on it.

"Now how do we get this down?", Donald wondered.

"Hmm…", Sora muttered as he thought of something, then lightened up as he did. "I got it!" Summoning his Keyblade, he aimed at the platform, then invoked "**Force!**"

He cast Gravira on it and the platform descended to our level. Sora then opened the chest to reveal—

"An Orichalcum!", cried out Donald.

I took the rare gem and put it in my bag. Then we returned to the lift, which took us back where we first entered the room.

"Okay, now what?", asked Ilsa as we disembarked.

She was answered by Sora heading for the second switch and touching it, which reverted to its usual red. Once he went back to us, I decided to activate the switch this time. Once we all boarded it, the lift took us…down to an area in the floor below. The moment we disembarked though, Darkballs appeared…only to be taken down by Beast in seconds. He seemed really riled up and wanting so desperately to get at our enemies.

"Beast, I understand your impatience to find Belle," said Ilsa. "but this maze was purposely made so that one who would just plow through foes wouldn't be able to accomplish much." She then put a hand on his shoulder and spoke softly to him. I didn't catch what she said, but it seemed to calm him down.

With that, we continued on down the opening ahead, which led us to the dark halls of the waterways. Once again, I volunteered for "flashlight holder". It didn't take long as we soon found a rising platform that took us back to the Lift Stop, only in a different section. Unfortunately, it was a dead end and we had to backtrack. Eventually, we returned to where we started, realized there was a hallway past the red-blue switch. We crossed it, and found ourselves outside the castle…where a few flying Heartless awaited us.

They were a large, draconian creatures with predominantly dark red skin, save for its tan belly and salmon-colored wings. Their bodies were rather thin, while their three-toed feet were quite large, each sporting black talons. Their wings seem rather thin compared to their body, and the wingtips tattered. There was a tall, slightly curved spike on each of their shoulders. Their tail was fairly short in comparison to similar Heartless, and their head was "V"-shaped and flat. They had beady yellow eyes on either side of its head, and the Heartless emblem could be seen on their chests.

"Wyvern.", said the Diary. "Giant Heartless that attack from the air. They are quite swift for their size and are hard to attack, especially while they are high in the air. Counterattacking when they come down would be most effective."

They just soared about out of melee range and since we were in a hurry, we took a right turn, which led us to a ledge that was close to the pink lines holding more circular platforms. We paused there, wondering what to do, then one of the Wyverns swooped down on us. Ilsa was struck by the first one by its feet, which Beast then mauled down. The second one headed for Sora, but he was ready. He performed a back flip, landed on the Wyvern's back, and whacked away at it as it tried to shake him off.

As they did that, I saw two switches, went over to the one n the right, and activated it, which caused the platforms above to start moving. I then turned back to the Wyvern Sora was dealing with and shot it on the head, destroying it…and causing Sora to drop on the floor.

"Okay.", I complained. "This is getting really annoying."

Just before the platform made its way past us, I decided to hit the other switch, which brought down a different lift just in front. Deciding it was safer, and seeing nothing else worth going to where the circular platform was going, we all boarded that one and it took us higher up the castle. We then had to disembark it, which led us to yet another lift, which was ginormous. We boarded that one too, and thankfully the ride was uneventful as we disembarked, finding ourselves headed to a hallway leading back to the Lift Stop. We took a lift there, which took us to the floor above, then we exited via the stairway in the area.

There, we found ourselves higher up the castle as we looked over the edge, which was thankfully barred by a railing. I felt very queasy as I looked over. We then took another lift in the area, and found ourselves confronting more Heartless, one of them a new sort.

They had small torsos and thin upper arms, but very wide, three-fingered forearms and hands. Their upper bodied and arms were covered by a high-collared, purple coat with a Heartless emblem on the chest and thin, white lining at the bottom. They sported a violet, wide-brimmed, conical hat with a thin, curled tip resembling a stereotypical witch hat. They also wore small, gold belts around the waist, over the coat, and lavender robes underneath it. Their heads were black with glowing yellow eyes (hidden underneath the hat).

On their hands were staves with long, thin, yellow handles, half-sky blue-half-dark blue tips, and long, thin, dark blue pommels decorated by two small, sky blue gems. The heads of these staves consisted of a yellow, spherical gem with two lilac-colored, zig-zagging "arms" on either side of it that created a shape reminiscent of the letter "W".

"Wizard.", said the Diary. "Heartless that attack with various powerful spells. Eludes enemy attacks by teleporting, making them tough to beat."

I didn't bother remembering much of the fight as it was very hectic and because I was getting tired of them, and I'm pretty sure everyone else was sharing the same feelings. However, we did get lucky in this one though; upon destroying one of the Wizards, it dropped its staff, which then changed color slightly. It was strange as it didn't disappear like the other staves. And then I remembered the shrunken Defender's shield I got much earlier and took it out just as Donald curiously picked up the staff.

"Hmm…normally I wouldn't trust magic weapons the enemy uses, but I believe this is better and safe to use.", he said as he 'put away' his old staff and held this new one.

I turned to face Goofy and offered the shrunken Defender's shield, seeing what he would think of it.

"Is that for me?" he asked.

"Well, I'm not replacing my shield anytime soon, so…"

"Looks scary."

"Don't worry.", Ilsa assured him. "The head's not gonna bite like the ones from those Defender Heartless."

Goofy was unsure of this, but ultimately decided to accept my offer, taking the shield and 'putting away' his old one. Once the re-equipping was done, we found ourselves going down a hallway back to the Lift Stop…again…but there we no 'lift' to go to this time. We made our way to the opening on the other side, taking out a small regiment of Defenders along the way, and made our way to the other end, fighting even more Heartless.

I was unable to recall much of what we did save for having to operate some switches, backtracking to one, and climbing some platforms that lowered or rose thanks to them, fighting more Heartless, and finally reentering the Lift Stop. Upon that last one, I received entered 'vision mode' yet again.

Part V. Xin and Maleficent

'I' was now apparently at the "certain area above" I thought of last time 'I' saw Maleficent and Xin in 'vision mode'. Speaking of which, they now stood there as well, looking up to where the "Keyhole" was. 'I' could see them looking at a Heartless emblem-shaped…something ahead, which was accessible via some stairs. Just as 'I' looked around, I could see Florina's unconscious form in a corner of the room, then saw Riku and Windelle—wearing their 'dark form' attire—walk over to the leaders.

"So, I see the path has emerged at last.", said Riku, though his voice seemed to be mixed with that of another.

"Yes." agreed Maleficent. "The Keyhole to the darkness."

"Unlock it and the Heartless will overrun this world.", warned Windelle, his voice also different.

"What do I care? The darkness holds no power over me. Rather, I will use its power to rule all worlds."

For a moment, I thought I saw Xin assume a look of worry, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Such confidence.", said Riku as he summoned what looked like a Keyblade.

It had a simple design of red and black, akin to the Kingdom Key, with its teeth forming the outline of a heart. It also looked more…sword-like. For some reason, it lacked a Keychain.

Windelle also summoned another weapon, and it wasn't the GunDeLuna. This new gun of his had a few more grotesque features for one, and it also had a color scheme of purple and accents of devil red.

Maleficent and Xin looked in awe at their weapon. "Oh!", they shared, then glanced at Kairi, who lay a few paces to their left.

"Impossible!", gasped Maleficent. "The princesses of heart are all here! Why won't the Keyhole open?"

"It must be her.", said Xin as he turned to Kairi and the four of them walked over to her.

"Without her heart, she will never be able to release her power.", said Windelle.

Just then, they heard something in the distance. It was the sound of battle, presumably us fighting off the Heartless.

"The king's fools are here.", said Maleficent. "I'll deal with them myself."

"No, you won't.", cut in Xin. "I'm coming with you. I got some minions to avenge." He then turned to Windelle and Riku. "You stay here and guard the princesses."

As the two walked off, our old friends began to glow in a blue aura, and then 'vision mode' ended. I found myself back with my companions, and I saw that we were in the dark hallway where I last saw the hooded man gave Riku his dark powers back in 'vision mode'. Ahead was a room that reminded me of where Riku nearly collapsed after he and Windelle abandoned us at Monstro. Ahead, I thought I could see two figures, but I couldn't discern them from the darkness. As we walked forward, I saw that it was Maleficent and Xin.

"I'm afraid you're too late.", said the sorceress. "Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed."

"This world will be plunged into darkness.", added Xin. "It is unstoppable."

We just answered by readying ourselves for battle, those of us with weapons summoning them.

"We'll stop it!", said Gregorio.

"After coming this far, there's no way we're gonna let that happen!", declared Sora.

"You poor, simple fools.", said Maleficent. "You think you can defeat me? Me, the mistress of all evil?"

Xin pointed his halberd at us, Gregorio in particular and the 'javelin' he was holding, even though it was technically one of the halberds those like Xin use. "You will all perish! For my minions, and for the darkness!"

The sorceress's staff began to glow and a large chunk of ground under her and Xin broke off, turning into a floating platform. Xin then began to twirl his halberd and trust its tip down on the platform, creating the invisible barrier again, which expanded to take us in…and repel Gregorio and Donald, leaving Goofy, Yoris, Beast, and Ilsa to aid me and Sora in our battle.

Just as I began to cast Regen on everybody, Sora began to rush forward when a Defender appeared in the way and, with a swipe of its shield, slammed him into a wall, making a nice size crater.

Goofy rushed up to the Defender and their shields clashed. Then, just as the latter's shield shot a fireball, the former somehow nimbly dodged it, then slammed his shield on the Heartless, stunning it long enough for me to land enough shots to eliminate it.

The other three bypassed us and ran straight at some Wyverns that were summoned as well, our two newest allies smashing through them as Yoris launched a thunderball at our enemies, which Xin barred with a barrier of dark energy.

"There's a reason why I'm the leader of the Wutai Association.", he said.

"Speaking of which," asked Sora as he got up from the wall he was slammed into. "Which of you is the mastermind behind all this?"

"Is this really the time?", I told him as I helped him out.

"I'll leave it to you guys to mull about once your hearts are have been consumed by the darkness.", was all Xin said before creating a blade wave of darkness at us. Ilsa and I managed to block off most of the attack with our Reflect and shield respectively, but the others still got hit…and were inflicted with Poison and Paralysis.

"Pathetic.", muttered Maleficent as I cast Esuna on them.

"Now, now.", the samurai told her. "It hasn't been a minute yet."

"You think they're in this together?", Yoris asked me.

"How should I know?", I retorted as I aimed my gun at them.

The cannoneer shrugged and Goofy and Sora leaped up to the platform, only for both of them to meet Xin's halberd.

"Uh-uh-uh.", he teased as he threw them off, inflicting Confuse on them as I saw stars and birdies circle their heads . At which time I fired at him, making him flinch a bit. "Ow." He then retaliated with a dark beam, which I wasn't able to defend myself against in time, and it proved to be very painful. And worse, I was inflicted by Blind, as my vision began to fade to blackness even though my eyes were clearly open. Now I knew just how powerful these guys were in comparison to all the other "bad guys" we've fought throughout this adventure. I also realized how frail I was in comparison to everybody else, especially Sora.

As it pushed me to the wall, the beam then left me and went for the others, who evaded it, even Beast after seeing what it did to me. Then, just before my status ailment began to kick in completely, I could see the platform the two were on begin to drift from the center room and into the hallway, ending at the invisible barrier that barred Donald and Gregorio from the fight.

As the rest began to pursue them, I cast Esuna on myself and my vision was restored. I then looked at a red Power Orb in one of my bracers, then mustered the strength to raised it. "Lend us your power!" The red Power Orb glowed and again a force exploded outward. Beams of light shot out of the floor around my feet and quickly spiraled upward, swallowing me in a spiral of blue light. When the light faded, Requiem was by my side. "You know what to do." The converted Heartless 'nodded' and started its healing work on me. While I still had my Regen status on, Requiem helped speed up the healing process.

As I slowly got up, feeling my injuries go away, I saw Maleficent call down purple lightning on Sora and the others as they fought off Heartless. Xin prevented any of them from getting on the platform by swinging at them with his halberd whenever Sora lowered where they stood with Gravira.

"Meteors of heaven, unleash thy fury!", Maleficent invoked.

All of a sudden, enormous blue-purple fireballs shot out from her staff and began to push away my companions. I made my way to one side of the room and the others did the same. For some reason, the Heartless were unharmed by the attack. Once the wave of fireballs was over, the sorceress called down the purple lightning again on us, then Darkballs and Defenders were summoned to hold us off.

Never before had we fought so…compatible a duo before. While Maleficent pounded us with powerful spells, Xin shielded both of them and fended off anyone who tried to get close, inflicting other status ailments in the process, all of which I had to cast Esuna to remedy. Thankfully, it turns out Ilsa knew Esuna as well and helped me in healing them.

_No wonder they're the leaders_, I thought as I looked at our opponents. To tell the truth, I never expected something like this in our battles. Despite this, we knew we couldn't give up now. Not after coming so close to ending this. But then, an opening was made for us…

Just then, Xin decided to jump down the platform and swung his halberd expertly against all of us and using darkness, parrying Beast's and Ilsa's blows, easily dodging Yoris's attacks, and getting through Goofy's and my defenses. As for Sora, he found himself too occupied to confront him as the Key Bearer made his way to Maleficent's platform and started striking at her. Unfortunately, a dark barrier Xin created beforehand protected her from too much damage as she moved her platform over our heads and back to the room. Before long however, she knocked him down and made her way back to the hall, knocking Goofy's head as her platform passed.

As Xin ducked another thunderball from Yoris, which subsequently knocked out Beast, he was caught off guard by a punch to the gut by Ilsa, who lay on the ground after being pounded by a meteor from Maleficent. The Ixi followed up with a punch to the face, then an uppercut that sent him back to the platform, although she didn't end up knocking down Maleficent as well in the process. Instead, Sora was knocked off as the platform then made its way back to the room.

"If you hadn't been so impatient, we could have defeated them once and for all.", the sorceress scolded her…partner.

"No need to remind me.", groaned Xin as he got up. "Playtime's over. Let's finish this!"

Then, as one, both of them brought their weapons' front ends together and a sphere of energy began to form around it as what was left of us regrouped. Beast was down for the count, I had since dismissed Requiem, and the Regen status has expired. Then, the sphere turned into a very wide beam of purple energy that made its way toward us. Just before it could catch us, I saw Sora use a Summon Gem. As the beam then caught us, I cast Shell, creating a blue barrier around us that cut down the damage we took, then followed up with a summon.

Even though it was dark energy, it was still blinding as it engulfed us. Already, I could feel the pain all over by body as I invoked the words needed to summon. The usual blue light overwhelmed the dark energy blocking my vision. Then, I saw the dark beam no longer blind us. With about half my stamina gone, I turned to my right to see Goofy, Yoris, and Ilsa tired out, the latter using healing spells.

I turned to the left to see Sora, nearly winded, having summoned Genie, who was firing a beam of white energy with one hand, looking bored as he covered his mouth with the other to stifle a yawn.

"This is too easy.", he said.

I then turned to the front and saw XR, who had a large gun poking out from the front of his body compartment. There was a white laser beam shooting out from it.

"Never knew I had this in my arsenal.", said the robot.

His beam and Genie's were countering the attack Maleficent and Xin were doing as the dark beam began to thin and our summons' beams converged. Mystic energy and concentrated light made by technology united as one and continued to push the dark beam back toward our foes. However, the beam-of-war came to a standstill as the samurai and the sorceress exerted more power.

As we were fully healed by Ilsa, Sora and I got up, jogged our way around the beam-of-war, and faced Maleficent and Xin from opposite sides so that we were in between them.

"We have to break off the beam and dodge.", Xin warned his…partner. "We won't be able to out from an attack from three fronts."

Maleficent didn't seem to listen as she continued the attack and so did Xin. Sora and I took advantge of this and—performing Strike Raid and Shield Boomer respectively—hurled our Keyblade/shield at them. Both weapons hit them and they were momentarily stunned, breaking their beam and our summons' beams struck them both, engulfing them in light for a few seconds. As the light faded, everything fell silent and I could hear footsteps come up from behind. I turned to see Gregorio and Donald come over, then back to where Xin and Maleficent were.

The samurai was standing, but just barely. helping the sorceress up on one shoulder. A he backed away, he created a black portal behind him and retreated into it. As he disappeared into it, we found another page and it floated down just a few feet short of the portal. Sora approached it and picked it up.

"Another page of Ansem's report…", he said.

There was also a small leather pouch carrying a few items. He picked it up and tossed it over to me. I then opened the pouch and saw three green Power Orbs. From their symbols, I could tell they were the -ra versions of Stop, Gravity, and Aero. As I stored them in my bag, we all gathered at the portal. I handed everyone Megalixirs, some which we bought and others which we found throughout our travels

"Okay.", I said as we drank our Megalixirs. "So…who wants to go first? I for one am not gonna cross an unknown portal that might end up corrupting my heart."

I was answered with Sora walking through without hesitation. Goofy swifly followed. Then Gregorio. Then Yoris. Then Beast. Then Ilsa, leaving Donald and me. Shrugging his shoulders, the court wizard followed. Not wanting to be left behind, I sighed as I followed suit, running as I wanted to have minimal exposure to the darkness.

Part VI. The Dragon and the Vajradhara

There was nothing but black and purple as I ran through the portal, bypassing the others as I did. The moment I was out through the other side of the portal, I could see Maleficent and Xin still lumbering away from us. The former was already taking gasps of breath due to the damage she and Xin took and was now being carried on the samurai's back, making for a compromising position. I then looked around to see the room was the one where Maleficent's group had discussed their plans for us, but the table was now gone. Suddenly, from behind them Riku and Windelle emerged from behind them via another black portal, their new weapons in hand.

"Do you need some help?", asked Riku.

Xin grunted, then replied, "For once, I'm not too proud to accept it."

"Riku!", Sora's voice came as everyone else caught up with me. They stopped upon seeing his and Windelle's new weapons.

"Is that…", Donald balked.

"Yes.", Riku replied as he showed his weapon. "A Keyblade."

"This, on the other hand, is a Gun of Darkness.", Windelle put in. "A weapon with the Gun of Light as its template."

"But unlike your Keyblade, Sora, this one holds the power to unlock people's hearts. Allow me to demonstrate…" In the blink of an eye, he quickly thrust the Keyblade through Xin's heart…and somehow into Maleficent's as well since she reacted too. "Behold!"

"Wha—", both dark leaders gasped as darkness began to make its way in through where they've been stabbed.

"Now, open your heart, surrender it to the darkness! Become darkness itself!" With that, he withdrew the Keyblade out of their heart and he and Windelle disappeared through a black portal.

As Xin backed away, dropping Maleficent in the process, who was suddenly restored of her energy as she stood up, looking at herself as she gained a green-yellow aura. As for Xin, he was clutching his head, as if resisting something that was getting inside him.

"This is it! This power!" She then let out a short cackle. "Darkness… The true darkness!"

Raising her arms into the sky, she was engulfed in green and black flames. Beside her, Xin raised his head upward and let out a blood-curdling scream as he was consumed by the same flames.

Once the flames were gone, we now saw that Maleficent has transformed into a black and monstrous dragon. Her eyes glowed an eerie green and the same color smoke came from her mouth.

As for Xin, he was now a different kind of beast, but still humanoid. He was now perhaps twice our height, dwarfed by Maleficent by a foot or three. His skin was now muscled and purple, his attire now changed so that there was only dark green light samurai armor plating on his head, shoulders, arms, torso, legs, and feet, exposing most of his body to the elements. Leather straps were the only things keeping them on his body. Also, his halberd has lengthened and thickened to match his new form.

"**Behold my Vajradhara form!**", Xin bellowed, his voice much deeper than before as he twirled his halberd in his hands. Normally, I would've run for my life like a coward at the sight of them, but plenty of battles with lots of bad guys and Heartless have since desensitized me. Still, I was shaking in my shoes.

"This has gotta stop happening!", Sora complained.

"You're telling me.", said Gregorio.

Just then, as the dragon Maleficent roared, Xin slammed the blade end of his halberd into the ground, creating the invisible barrier yet again, which engulfed all of us. I looked around to see that all of us made it through, although the portal we crossed was gone. We were now stuck here with them. Xin seemed to frown as I wondered whether large opponents affected the number of "good" participants when it comes to the Fighter Limit phenomenon.

I didn't have much time to ponder on that as Maleficent reared back and spewed a great stream of green fire from her mouth. Goofy and I dropped behind our shields but the heat was so intense it threatened to overwhelm us. Immediately, as I pulled back, I cast Shell on the two of us to mitigate the damage and cast Regen on all of us. Sora and Gregorio had hidden behind a large boulder as the green fire passed by the sides.

Donald, Beast, Yoris, and Ilsa hadn't been in the path of the fire and were now charging with cries of battle. The court wizard began to cast Aerora on all of us, Yoris started bombarding Xin with thunderballs, Ilsa headed straight for the dragon, and Beast began to attack the Vajradhara.

Maleficent whipped her tail around and knocked the Ixi away and right into Donald, while Xin caught Beast with his halberd and started to swing him about while our companion tired to hold on, now inflicted with the Stop status as he didn't seem to so much as move. However, Beast had managed to hold on tight before getting inflicted, so he was effectively stiff as a rock and could not be shaken off.

Gregorio decided to jump out from his hiding place and leaped up high. He managed to land on Xin's halberd while he swung Beast about, then quickly jumped off of it and onto Xin's shoulder. The Vajradhara roared in fury as he stopped swinging Beast and attempted to get the lancer off of him, who began striking at the head.

Meanwhile, Yoris noted the large roots in the eastern corner of the room and made his way there as Goofy and I recovered from Maleficent's fire breath and the former began to charge forward with Sora, who came out from behind the boulder like Gregorio. I hung back and fired away at Maleficent, always aiming for the head, although it was difficult as she flailed about to knock away her opponents. She knocked Sora away and right for me, but I dodged him as he fell a foot behind me to the right as Ilsa rushed forward from my left. The Key Bearer quickly got up as Donald stopped at my left.

"Let's try a triple Thundara.", Sora suggested.

"As good a plan as any, I guess.", I replied.

Almost simultaneously, the three of us cast the spell, bringing down lightning bolts on Maleficent, stunning her, but just for a moment. A few bolts landed on Xin as well, who was still shaking off Gregorio while Beast, now released from Stop and on the floor, began to attack him only to be backhanded from time to time. Meanwhile, Yoris made it to the roots and was atop one of them, firing from a safe distance on the two behemoths.

"**You will pay for your insolence!**", cried out Xin as he then successfully managed to grab Gregorio and hurl him into the air. At that time, Beast managed to land a critical hit on Xin, digging his claws into the Vajradhara's side, who roared in pain, then knocked him away before Yoris's barrage began to get to his nerves.

Meanwhile, Ilsa was landing punches on Maleficent's legs, knowing all too well that most dragonscales are of tougher stuff than diamond, but not as hard as them. Just then…

"Here I come!", yelled Gregorio as he gravity took him back down…onto Maleficent's head, burying it down into the dragon's neck. The dragon bellowed and began to swing her head around, forcing Gregorio to hold onto his javelin as it slowly began to dislodge from Maleficent's neck. After a while, he was tossed off, but not before getting a face full of green dragon fire, slamming on the ground hard with a cry of pain.

As I was closest to him, I went over and gave him a Mega-Potion to drink. He quickly downed it and he was back on his feet in a second and a spin of his legs. Just then, a ring of green fireballs formed around Maleficent and one by one they began to make their way to each of us. She also began to spew a steady stream of fire that began to burn the ground. For some reason, it only burned when we touched it, which I was thankful for as smoke can be more deadly than the flames.

Amidst that, Xin dropped his halberd and began to slam his fists into the ground, which somehow put out the flames as Maleficent began to fly up to avoid taking damage as well. I cursed myself for not equipping the Float Power Orb as we tried jumping the resulting shockwaves the best we could. Due to the pressure of battle, I couldn't switch my Orbs around at this time.

From my right, as I fired away at the dragon, I could see Ilsa knock back one of Maleficent's "homing fireballs" with a Reflect, then passed by Beast, who began to dig his claws into the scales, penetrating them. Apparently, her skin wasn't as tough as Ilsa thought. This was further proved as, with a great roar, he sunk his teeth into her neck. The dragon roared in pain and fury and jumped to her hind legs, making Beast slide off and crash into the ground.

Meanwhile, Sora, Ilsa, and Gregorio were facing off against Xin, who had retrieved his halberd and started swinging it about again in vain as his opponents, even Ilsa, dodged about. It was such an absolute mayhem it was a miracle I managed to recollect all this. All the while, Yoris continued to fire from his vantage point.

As I stood in equal distance between the two behemoths, I turned to look a red Power Orb, thought about it, and raised the bracer that held it.

"Lend us your power!", I invoked.

Once more, the red Power Orb glowed in my bracer and a force exploded outward. Beams of light shot out of the floor around my feet and quickly spiraled upward, swallowing me in a spiral of blue light. When the light faded, Flit was hovering right beside me.

"Flit." I said as I pointed at Xin. Before I could tell him what to do, the hummingbird nodded his head, then zoomed off right for the Vajradhara. As he did, Flit somehow began to leave a trail of green light as he zoomed around Xin, dropping green healing orbs as he did, which Sora, Gregorio, and Ilsa 'collected'.

I then turned to look at Maleficent, who began to prepare another blast of fire. I opened fire on her but to no avail. Just then, I saw Goofy toss Donald into the air and right for the dragon's mouth. I thought this move was as suicidal as it would get, as least it would've been without the "Barrier Jackets" protecting us. Then just as Maleficent opened her mouth to unleash her breath of fire, Donald cast a powerful Blizzara into it, resulting in the breath attack backfiring on the dragon.

As the court wizard began to fall to the ground, he was caught by a tail sweep from Maleficent, which then also caught Goofy and slammed then right were Yoris was, knocking them all unconscious. I was only able to evade her tail attack by falling over to the ground on my back, where the tail missed my face by a foot, though my shield got knocked away. I also glimpsed the tail smacking Xin as he was almost about to bring down his halberd on a statue I knew wasn't there a few seconds ago, Flit having been automatically dismissed as his summon time had since expired. As Xin currently turned his attention to Ilsa, my shield was back in my hands in a second as I got up and ran over to the statue.

It turns out Gregorio had been inflicted with Petrify status, and Sora was inappropriately nodding off and snoring. I was about to chastise him for this before realizing he was inflicted with the Sleep status. I groaned and cast Esuna on both of them, especially on Gregorio as I seriously hoped Esuna could cure petrification. To my relief, it did and the stone statue that was Gregorio began to revert to normal. Sora awoke as well and my companions got up immediately. Just then, a thunderous yell caught our attention and we turned to see Beast fall to a stream of fire that left him too weak to battle anymore.

"This is going downhill pretty quick.", I said as we then saw Ilsa get slammed by Xin into a wall, falling over limp and out of both stamina and magic energy to heal herself. Slowly, Xin and Maleficent turned to the three of us to prepare a final attack.

"No!", Sora shouted. "We must win!"

"And I can think of one way.", Gregorio spoke up as he put away his javelin, then took both me and Sora by the wrists. "Follow me." The lancer then began to run…straight for the two behemoths. I widened my eyes in fright on realizing how crazy his plan was. He intended to get Xin's and Maleficent's attacks to strike each other, hopefully resulting in infighting, at least from one of them.

It proved to be a partial success. One of Xin's status ailment-inflicting slashes by his halberd accidentally struck Maleficent's body, and she began to retaliate with fire breaths and even claw slashes. However, the Vajradhara seemed to be on the defensive, fending off Maleficent's attacks, then looked like he was disabling the dragon, inflicting more status ailments on her, then began to lumber his way to us as we healed ourselves. While we still had a few healing items left in my bag, I was somehow unable to open them in the midst of a battle whenever a Fighter Limit was "in play".

"**While my form may make you take me for a mindless brute, I have not become as beastly as my fellow dragon.**", he said as he readied to strike with his halberd.

"Go deal with Maleficent.", Gregorio directed Sora and me. "I can handle this."

While Sora nodded and went off at once, I said, "No way you can take him by yourself. Besides, I don't think I can help with Sora, anyway."

"I hope he can do it by himself." Then, together, we faced the Vajradhara as he held his halberd up, ready to attack us with it. I could see that Xin was getting tired. Unfortunately, so were we, in spite of our healing items. And I was out of magic power and Ethers on hand to restore it. I figured I had only enough to perform one yellow Power Orb ability. And I better make it count.

Just then, Xin began to charge, halberd poised to sweep at us. Gregorio did likewise and I provided support fire as I followed. As Xin made that sweep, Gregorio leaped over it with a somersault while I did so like one would jump a hurdle. While the lancer followed up with a series of slashes at the Vajradhara, I primed my DirLuxGun for a Combo Shots.

In the middle of the attack however, Xin managed to catch Gregorio with his free hand. At that moment, I verified if my aim was true, then pulled off the ability. Xin was caught off guard at the continuous headshots from my DirLuxGun. Once my ability ended, I fell over onto my rump in exhaustion as I saw Gregorio deliver a finishing blow on Xin, who bellowed in pain as he staggered backward.

I then turned to Maleficent and saw Sora deliver a finishing blow in the form of an Ars Arcanum. The dragon yelled in great pain as I somehow felt the invisible barrier fade away. As that happened, Maleficent was consumed by green flames as she crashed to the floor. Xin did likewise, but in darkness. The roots around began to burn in the same manner and they dropped Yoris, Donald, and Goofy.

Immediately, we revitalized ourselves with Mega-Potions, did the same to Beast and llsa, and got them to gather the others together with us in one place; the center of the room close to where the portal we crossed once stood. Eventually, the fire faded away, leaving behind what seemed to be Maleficent's cloak. There, we could see two colored orbs. One was red and the other was brass-colored.

As for Xin, he was back to normal, on one knee, using his halberd to keep from falling to the floor. He seemed to be looking at where Maleficent once lay, looking distraught. Just then, Riku and Windelle appeared, walking over Maleficent's cloak, which Xin reacted to with anger as he began to get up and use his halberd as a crutch.

"How ironic.", laughed Windelle as they walked up to us, ignoring the summon gems on the ground. "She was just another puppet after all."

"What?", Ilsa gasped.

"The Heartless were using Maleficent from the beginning.", Riku said, then turned to Xin. "You as well." They then turned back to face us. "They failed to notice the darkness in their hearts eating away at them." All of us, even Xin, reacted in surprise. Windelle then called up his Gun of Darkness and aimed it at the samurai. "A fitting end for such fools."

As Riku rubbed his foot at the cloak, making it disappear, Windelle fired, but Xin suddenly let go of his halberd and fell to the floor, dodging the attack as a black portal began to form underneath him.

"I will bring you back, Maleficent.", we heard him say. "I promise." He then turned to us. "I shall avenge her someday. You can count on that." And with that, he was gone, along with his halberd. Windelle and Riku departed through a black portal shortly after.

After ten seconds of silence, Sora walked over and picked up the gems. The red one depicted a small red dragon inside it, and the brass-colored one…a candelabra? He then tossed the brass one to me and I stored it into my bag.

"Still, I wonder…", Yoris mused. "Was Xin Maleficent's minion? Was she his? Or were they working together?"

"For some reason, I think it's the third option.", said Gregorio. "And they might be…" He shuddered, not finishing the sentence.

"I think I get what you mean."

"What do **you** mean?", asked Sora.

Just then, a black portal appeared once again, and his question was forgotten. "Now where does that lead to?", Goofy asked.

"Only one way to find out."

Once again, Sora walked through without hesitation. Again, Goofy swifly followed. Following (in the same order as lst time) were Gregorio, Yoris, Beast, and Ilsa. This time however, Donald followed immediately after them. Sighing, I prepared for a run, then did so as I followed.

Again, I was the first to exit the portal and when I did, we were back in the room where we first confronted Maleficent and Xin. As the rest of us emerged from the portal, we found something that wasn't there before. To our left of the room was a set of double doors. Slowly, we all approached it. Sora let out a deep breath.

"Let's go."

We all nodded in silent agreement as he pushed the doors open and we all walked through it.

Part VII. Showdown at the Keyhole

As we crossed the door, we found ourselves at the Lift Stop, where this time there was nothing barring us from falling over the edge. We found an exit a ways to the left and we all raced to it. Shadows emerged, but we ignored them (though Beast mauled any in his way) as we finally reached the exit. At the end of the hallway, we found ourselves on one end of a long red carpet. In front of us was a wall of some kind that barred us from going further.

Just then, the wall opened in two and as it did, I recognized the area we now entered to be the chamber where 'I' last saw Kairi.

"We're here.", I said as we walked down the hall and looked in horror at the imprisoned maidens.

"We found her, Aladdin.", Gregorio whispered as he looked at the capsule imprisoning Jasmine.

"What have they done to you, Belle?" Beast said with great sadness as he went over to her capsule and placed a hand on it.

Ilsa placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Come on. We need to keep going." Beast did not seem to respond as he just stood there. Sora was about to walk over when the Ixi gestured him to stop with her other hand. "I understand." She then turned to the rest of us. "Let's keep moving."

With that, we reluctantly left Beast to his own devices as we made our way to the stairs, taking the left one as it split. We then entered the area that had the Keyhole, but I then heard a slight ping I usually hear when we collide into a barrier. We turned to see Goofy has fallen over and Yoris was blocked by a barrier of some kind. Donald had looked behind him in a flabbergasted manner and Gregorio, Ilsa, and I looked back as well. As for Sora, he had eyes for only one thing.

Kairi lay on the floor in the center of the area. To a corner on the far left in our perspective was Florina, leaning on a railing. Both seemed to be asleep and non-reactive to anything. Sora called out her name as he immediately came over to her still body. Gregorio did the same as he called out Florina's. As Ilsa and I ran over to where he ran to, only stopping midway between him and Sora, I noticed the Ixi react once again, freezing in place.

I turned to Sora, who knelt down and lifted Kairi's upper body, cradling her head. "Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!"

I then turned to Gregorio, who said, "What have they done to you?"

"It's no use.", Riku's voice (which was mixed with another's) came. We all turned to see him and Windelle sitting atop where the Keyhole was. "That girl has lost her heart. She cannot wake up."

Sora lay Kairi down, then stood up. "What? You… You're not Riku.", he realized. as Donald went over.

"It wasn't obvious to you before from the voice?", I asked him, then turned to Windelle. "What did you do to Florina?"

"It takes the power of two wielders of the Guns of Light to make this thing.", he replied as he held up the Gun of Darkness. "As it is, I required two wielders," He gestured towards himself, then at Florina. "And lots and lots of darkness."

"The Keyhole cannot be completed so as long as the last princess of heart still sleeps.", Riku then said as he and Windelle jumped off and slowly floated downward.

"The princess…?", I asked in confusion, turned to Florina, then Kairi, and then indicated her. "You mean Kairi? She's a princess?", I guessed.

"Yes." Riku and Windelle then landed on top of the small set of steps in front of the Keyhole. "And without her power, the Keyhole will remain incomplete. It is time she awakened."

"Whoever you are, let Riku go!", demanded Sora. "Give him back his heart!"

"But first, you must give the princess back her heart."

Riku aimed his Keyblade at Sora and all of a sudden, something flashed in the latter's chest and Sora fell to the floor on his knees as he clutched onto it with his right hand, the left one keeping himself up.

"Sora!", Donald and I gasped.

"What's…", he began.

"Don't you see yet?", Riku said as he and Windelle descended the steps. "The princess's heart is responding." They stopped at the bottom. "It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you!"

"Kairi… Kairi's inside me?" Sora gasped as he gasped for breath.

"Wha…how is this possible?", I asked myself. Saying it was difficult for me to comprehend would be an understatement. Then again, with all the strange happenings around me, I thought I probably shouldn't delve in it further as I looked back at the time we were in the Secret Place, where Kairi first 'disappeared' right before Sora could catch her in hs arms.

"I know all that there is to know.", Riku then said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Tell me. Who are you?", asked Sora.

"It is I, Ansem, the seeker of darkness."

"Windelle!", yelled Gregorio as he marched over to him. "No, you're not him. You're using his body! I can feel it."

Windelle gave a long chuckle. "You're right on that point, you know. I am called Stickee, and I am an experimental creation of Ansem. I'll have to say that your friend's body is rather fitting." He then turned to me. "I could've easily taken yours thanks to your rather feeble will in comparison to Sora's, but your body also happens to be just as frail." Gregorio narrowed his eyes in fury. "There's also a fourth wielder, but since he's not around, well…" Windelle then seemed to crack a smile as he and Riku began to walk torward Sora. "Oh, I just love it when friends fight one another."

"**Why, you!**", Gregorio growled in rage as he charged for Windelle. At around the same time, Donald quacked likewise as he (unwisely) charged, and Ilsa did the same out of her own accord. However, they were (somehow) easily shoved away through the other stairway, and there was a flash of a barrier. Sora and I were on our own this time.

I immediately summoned my DirLuxGun but then Windelle then calmly aimed his Gun of Darkness at my head. I instantly froze, knowing all too well he might knock me out of commission and then they'd finish off Sora real quick, who was stillkneeling on the floor.

Riku then aimed his Keyblade at Sora. "So, I shall release you now, Princess. Complete the Keyhole with your power. Open the door, lead us into everlasting darkness!" He then raised his Keyblade and swung it, with the full intent of bringing it down. Time seemed to slow as I stood there. There was nothing I could do. There was nothing anyone else can do. If Sora wasn't going to get up and defend himself, everything we've been through would have come down to nothing. This journey of ours will end. And all of the surviving worlds will be doomed.

All of a sudden, Sora whipped his head up, then—in a split second—called up the Keyblade to deflect Riku's attack. As Windelle acted in surprise at this, I took the time to summon my shield and get into a defensive position, denying him the chance to attack me.

"Forget it!", Sora told them angrily as he pushed Riku back as he stood up. "There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" He then pushed him off successfully as we all got ready for battle. However, there was still one nagging issue; Kairi's unconcscious body. It still lay in the middle of the area!

Just then, I heard a strange noise and the body disappeared. As I immediately felt something phase through me, I risked a look around and saw Florina's body disappear too as the invisible barrier formed once more.

I then heard a voice in my head. _Kick their butts for me. _It was Xin. Was he making this barrier? And how is he speaking in my head? _Don't misunderstand me, kid. I'm doing all this for Maleficent. It may look counterproductive, but I won't stand for competition. You will not see me again until those two are gone. _And with that, the voice ended.

And not a second too soon as I somehow sensed Windelle fire at me from behind. I quickly turned and blocked the attack with my shield. Just then, I felt immense pain from behind as Riku slashed at me from behind. It was more painful than the dark beam Xin fired on me. Immediately, I fell to the floor, dismissed my weapons, then rolled on the floor and cast Cura, then Regen on myself and Sora, who was now in a sword-lock with Riku.

As I got up as fast as I could, I could see Windelle rush straight for me. For some reason, I decided to charge shield-first. As Windelle predictably jumped over me, I turned around to see Sora pull back and spin around to strike Riku in the back. However, Riku dodged it, but then I launched a Fira spell at him, which connected and he fell to the ground.

I then saw Windelle headed for me, firing as he went before Sora struck him bown and began performing combos on him. I decided to deal with Riku, no matter how nervous I was on doing it. This was Riku, who (by Tidus's word, at least) bested four of his friends in a four-on-one match. This was Riku, who was now driven by darkness and perhaps jealousy (I guessed). And this was Riku, who had turned Xin and Maleficent into ferocious monsters with his dark Keyblade, which I would eventually come to name as the Keyblade of People's Hearts.

With hesitation, I fired away at Riku, who reacted as if he were helpless. I knew all too well that this was a gambit to persuade me to stop, and unfortunately, even though I knew that, it was working. As my firing rate slowly decelerated, Riku spun quickly on his feet and was onto me like Sabor was during our last visit at Deep Jungle. He used powerful strikes, forcing me to take a step back with every attack as his slashes struck at my shield. I managed to get out of his onslaught and shot at Riku's side, but he blocked it, then brought his Keyblade down on me and I countered by raising my shield. To my surprise, I wasn't pushed back as they collided. Indeed, I was able to push at Riku's Keyblade.

"You're have no worth in a fight of this fashion.", the other voice Riku had spoke. I recognized it. It was that of the mysterious figure.

"At least I'm holding off one of you."

"But is it enough?"

I said nothing as I aimed my DirLuxGun at Riku and fired, but he ducked under, put a hand to my stomach, then unleashed a fireball of dark energy at point-blank range. I was sent flying…and I felt myself collide against somebody. As I rolled over him, I saw that it was Windelle, who had been pushed around by Sora, who pulled back after seeing me fly straight for him.

"Watch it!", Windelle scolded Riku before swinging his legs around in such a way that he was then back on his feet. Sora quickly cast Cura on me and I got up to fight once more. I then brought my shield up to block a charge from Riku as Sora continued to attack Windelle, who was now dodging the best he could.

One of my yellow Power Orbs glowed as I then performed Combo Shots. I managed to get in three hits, but they didn't seem to make Riku flinch in the slightest as he dodged the rest. I then reared back and followed up with a Shield Boomer, tossing my shield like a boomerang straight for him. However, Riku performed a Strike Raid and Keyblade and shield met with a great display of electrical power in the air and our hurled weapons returned to our hands. Then, he decided to change targets and Windelle was now onto me from the left.

"Witness true power!", Windelle said as dark energy formed around his left hand and his body began to crackle with power. He put his hands together and fired from the Gun of Darkness twin rings of energy that flew straight for me. On instinct, I brought my shield forward, but I the attack went straight through it as I felt the considerable pain upon it passing through me.

After the attack passed, I saw Windelle leap upward and shoot down straight for me. Still remembering the last attack, I rushed forward, hoping he'd be over me before he could launch his attack. He was as he shot down onto the ground and I managed to evade what turned out to be a 'fanned shot' that created pillars of energy that erupted from where the shots hit and continued perpendicularly.

As he then landed behind me, I turned around and cast Fira, but he easily countered it with a few shots. Next, a blade of energy seemed to form from his weapon's barrel and he slammed the 'blade' into the floor. The next thing I knew, I suddenly jumped back as a dark lightning bolt came down on where I was an instant ago and more pillars of energy erupted from all around.

"Is that it?", I heard Windelle and Riku taunt as I then felt Sora press his back to mine. The two began to circle us, ready to attack at any moment.

"I had a feeling we'd end up in something like this again.", I found myself saying.

"Having our backs to each other?", asked Sora.

"Yeah."

Just then, Riku, who was now in front of me, raised his hand and a bolt of magical energy ripped through the ground, headed straight for me. Knowing this wasn't something I could defend against, I dismissed my DirLuxGun, took Sora by the belt, and pulled him to the left as the bolt bypassed us and headed for Windelle, who jumped over it. As he did, he aimed his Gun of Darkness at us and shot a spread attack akin to a shotgun's blast. I brought my shield up to stop the attack, but left myself open to Riku as he rushed for me. Sora quickly spun around me to intercept his attack.

He then stabbed at Riku, who spun in the other direction to dodge. Sora seemed to predict this as he swung his Keyblade in a wide arc, striking Riku in his side, knocking him to the ground. As Sora rushed at him, I turned my attention to Windelle, who seemed to be charging power in his Gun of Darkness.

He then released that power, unleashing a giant ball of energy right for me, as well as Sora and Riku behind me. There was no time to warn Sora as I got out of the way. The sphere hit both Keyblade wielders, sending them rolling along the floor. I immediately resumed firing on Windelle, who began to dodge my attacks with ease and firing away. I was completely on the defensive as I backed away. Behind me, I could hear the clashing of blades. Sora and Riku were duelling and I was moving in their position.

Just then, I felt two feet plant themselves on my back, then push me to the ground; Riku kicked himself off of me. As I tried to get up, I saw Windelle stand right before me, aiming his Gun of Darkness at my head. "Goodbye.", he said. Just before he could pull the trigger however, Sora's Keyblade went flying right at him over my head and he jumped clear. I got on my feet, only to see Sora's Keyblade head for me. Fortunately, it disappeared inches from my face as I turned to see him holding his Keyblade.

I then saw Riku come up form behind and I shot past Sora's head and shoulders to hit him. Sora immediately turned around and Riku began backflipping his way to the steps just before the Keyhole and Windelle did the same.

"Behold the power of darkness!", they said as everything went dark, although Sora and I could still see them and each other. I saw them raise their weapons high, place both hands on them, then Riku charged. We both dodged it, but then Windelle began to teleport around, firing energy cannonballs at us in every direction as Riku also zipped around likewise. Sora and I stood back-to-back as we defended ourselves against their attacks.

Just then, Riku and Windelle appeared together, the former planting his weapon into the floor and the latter firing a beam into the same place. By some strage instinct, I grabbed Sora, thrust down my shield, got him and me on, and then pillars of energy exploded from all around. One erupted from where our shield was and we were sent upward as the blackness disappeared.

The moment I could see my surroundings again, I launched two Fira spells at Riku and Windelle, sending them flying right onto the steps. I used the time to re-cast Regen and cast Cura on both of us as we landed on our feet, the shield being dismissed and subsequently summoned in my right hand. Riku and Windelle immediately got up and stared down on us. Sora returned the stare while I merely felt nervous.

Sora and Riku were upon each other once more as quick as lightning and their Keyblades met in another struggle for strength. A second after they charged, Windelle was onto me, firing a flurry of shots as I went on the defensive, taking potshots whenever possible as I maneuvered around the field, trying to get myself involved in the Sora vs. Riku duel. Riku suddenly broke off from Sora and swiped at my head. In shock, I leaned back as the sword whizzed inches from it. However, I lost balance and fell on my back, but not before landing a kick on Riku, knocking him to the floor.

I saw Windelle head for me, but Sora sent him crashing with a Gravira spell. I took this time to get up and just in time as Riku headed straight for me. Instead of attacking head-on however, he leaped right over my head and just before he could land behind me, the moment he did I had turned around and cast Thundara, blasting him away as I glimpsed Windelle shoot away at a retreating Sora.

"You shouldn't play with electricity!", Ansem's voice laughed through Riku as a dark lightning bolt ripped through the ground in pillars. I brought my shield down near where the next pillar of energy would come out and when it did, it pushed my shield upward so fast I had to let it go. As the pillar dissipated, Riku headed straight for me and socked me with a right hook.

I was shocked at this as I clearly didn't expect fists from him or anybody else save Ilsa and a few other Heartless. I brought my head back and stared at his grin for a second before getting a crazy idea. I dismissed my DirLuxGun and punched him in the jaw, making his head snap back. At the same time, I positioned my right arm close to my body, recalled my shield, then slammed it into him. I continued this bashing as I saw Windelle evade Sora's Fira spells as he backed his way right into me. Just then, I felt my next bash connect against a sword. Upon impact, my shield seemed to glow white, and then shattered into small twinkles of light that winked out one by one.

_The shield has taken too much damage._, a voice in my head came. But it was different from the one that spoke when I got back the DirLuxGun. _Heal the shield outside of combat so it can serve its purpose once more._

I returned to my senses and saw that Riku has too. Blue energy now surrounded him as he started floating in the air. As I turned around behind me, I could see Windelle doing the same thing.

"Now you shall fall!" Stickee's voice shouted through Windelle.

"You shall now face my ultimate attack!", added Ansem's voice through Riku. "Prepare to suffer!"

"Not if I can help it!", Sora talked back as he jumped right at him from behind. At about the same time, I landed a couple of shots before Windelle could do a thing and Sora performed a combo mid-air before slamming him down on the floor. I immediately turned to Riku, whose Keyblade was already glowing with power. Before he could pull off whatever he was about to do, I performed Combo Shots, pummeling him with eight consecutive short beams of light. This bought Sora enough time to glide his way to Riku and perform a combo on him, then as they both landed, Sora immediately followed up with an Ars Arcanum, ending with his final blow sending him right into Windelle. This somehow knocked them over into a kneeling position as their bodies faced us.

All of a sudden, there was a shimmer and the bodies of Florina and Kairi went visible again. The barrier barring our friends seemed to be gone as well as they began to make their was up the steps to where the Keyhole was. Then, Riku and Windelle suddenly fell over as their bodies disappeared, mysteriously leaving behind their weapons, a scroll, and a leather pouch.

"Riku! Windelle!", Sora cried out as they vanished from sight. I stood speechless at this, still not knowing what was about to happen. A few seconds later, I walked over to the items and picked them up, nonchalantly tossing the scroll over to Sora. I then opened the pouch—and gawked in surprise at what was inside.

The contents of the pouch consisted of **eight **Power Orbs. Seven of them were green and bore triple the icons of the Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Cure, Gravity, Aero, and Stop Spells. I guessed these were the -ga levels of those spells. The eighth one however was a yellow one depicting the head of an unfamiliar figure. He was a blond-haired boy with red goggles on his forehead and a vertical white line across each of his cheeks.

_Who's this guy?_, I wondered as I picked up the orbs and stored them in my bag, replacing the Fira and Thundara ones in my bracers with their -ga level counterparts. _Why are my memories so fuzzy? _

"Sora, Rael, look!", Donald's voice rang out, shaking me off my thoughts. We tuned around to see them at the top of the steps.

"The… The Keyhole!", Goofy said in a panic.

As Sora walked over to the Keyhole, I eyed the fallen Gun of Darkness. Out of curiosity, and because it was just lying there waitig to be useful, I walked over to it, reaching out a hand to pick it up when I suddenly stopped. For some reason, I felt—no, knew—that it wasn't the right to do. But I then wondered what I should do with it. A second later, I knew what. _This weapon is too dangerous for anybody to wield. If I can't use it, I have to make certain no one will._ I aimed my DirLuxGun at the Gun of Darkness, and fired.

To my utter surprise, it shattered into puffs of darkness the second my gun's beam hit it and two glowing hearts encased in spheres of light emerged from it. They then very slowly floated up into the air, but one of them made its way elsewhere. As I followed it with my eyes, I saw it head right for Florina.

_What! Her Heart had been stolen all this time, just like with the other Princesses?_, I mentally gasped.

"It won't work! The Keyhole's not finished yet!", I heard Goofy say.

I turned to my friends and saw Sora aiming his Keyblade at the Keyhole. There was no reaction from either. At around that time, what I assumed to be Florina's Heart reached her body and disappeared into it. But she didn't seem to move or make any sort of reaction. Yet.

"What can we do?", Sora wondered.

"Maybe we've gotta go wake Kairi up.", Yoris suggested.

"I think you're right.", he agreed as they all turned around and Sora put a hand to his heart. "If we can free her heart… But… But how?"

As they began to think, I turned to the other Heart, only to see it almost floating out of reach. I dismissed my DirLuxGun and jumped to catch it. As I landed again, I cupped the sphere in my hands and began to wonder something… Stickee said he used the power of two wielders of the Guns of Light. If that Heart that floated to Florina was hers, was this Windelle's?

"A Keyblade that unlocks people's hearts… I wonder.", I then heard Sora say. I turned to him, then to the Keyblade Riku wielded. I quickly put two and two together and immediately ran over to Yoris, handing him the Heart I held as the cannoneer called out Sora's name, then I ran all the way back to Riku's Keyblade, which Sora already picked up by the handle.

"Sora, hold on!", gasped Gregorio.

"No, wait!", cried out Donald.

"Don't tell me…", Ilsa managed to sputter.

Sora just gave a goofy smile at his friends, turned the Keyblade around, poised to stab himself. Before he could manage to do that, I grabbed the handle with my left hand and tried to pull it away from Sora.

"What do you think you're doing?!", I asked him.

"This is the only way to free Kairi's heart. It's inside me.", he replied as he fought against my pull.

"There has to be another way. I may not have promised anybody to keep you alive, but I'm not about to let anybody sacrifice their lives for anything. And don't get me started on Riku willing to sacrifice Pinocchio's Heart to save Kairi. A sacrifice is a sacrifice, even if it's selfless, and I can't let that happen!"

"Rael?" I failed to notice that both of us were tugging at the Keyblade with one hand. "Take care of these for me." In his other hand, I could see him hold all the summon gems he owned, including the red one that was yet to be 'activated'. There was also the Keychain for summoning Genie.

"Don't do this!", I said as I realized what was about to happen.

Sora just tossed the summon gems straight for me. I knew they weren't fragile, but instinct made me try to catch as many as I could with one hand, causing my grip on Riku's Keyblade to falter. Before I knew it, as I caught Bambi's and Dumbo's summon gems (and felt the rest hit my chest before falling to the ground), I felt the Keyblade stab into Sora's heart. I looked at the sight in shock and quickly let go of the Keyblade. I knew perfectly well that I didn't stab Sora, but I wasn't sure what the rest would think.

I then looked up where the Keyblade Sora used to stab himself floated into the air and began to disintegrate into six glowing lights encased in spheres of…light. These lights then floated out of the platform we were on and made their way to the hall I crossed. I guessed if these were Hearts, then I assumed they made their way to the imprisoned maidens. Alice, Jasmine, Belle, they would all be free.

I turned back to Sora, where a light like the other six began to leave his body and float up for a moment before sinking down to Kairi's comatose body. I followed it with my eyes and I saw that as it landed and disappeared in Kairi's body, she woke up in an instant. Also, the Keyhole shone and reacted, releasing a pink pulse to signify that it was complete.

As Sora began to get slowly covered in lights, time seemed to slow as I turned around to look at my surroundings. Donald and Yoris were running straight for Sora, calling out his name. Gregorio turned to see the waking Florina, who was struggling to get up. Ilsa and Goofy were frozen in place like I was, unable to process what was happening. Kairi was on her feet as well, calling out Sora's name. She was the first to make it to him, but before she could catch Sora' falling body, he disappeared and the lights around him began to float into the ceiling as we all then stared at them.

"Sora!", Donald cried out to no avail. "Come back, Sora!"

Part VIII. Escape from the Castle

As the lights faded, we all stood there together where we last saw Sora, Florina now with us once more, able to stand but resting on Gregorio's shoulder.

"I can't…", I managed to sputter. "I can't believe he's gone." I knew I probably should've been blaming myself for what happened to Sora even though I wasn't guilty, but for some reason I didn't as I looked down at Sora's summon gem's and the keychain with Genie's lamp.

As I bent down to pick them up and pocket them, I heard Kairi say. "Sora, are you really—" I heard her stop herself as she changed her conviction. "No. It can't be! I won't let him go!"

"Kairi…", Yoris muttered.

Just then, we heard the forming of a black portal. We all turned to see a dark-skinned man. His eyes were amber-orange eyes and his hair was white and long with three spikes on the top and sides of his head.

He wore silver-white gloves on his hands, each with a grey band on the wrist, while the rest of the glove, which has three black buttons lining one side, belled outwards. There was a black pauldron on both of his shoulders, each attached to his coat by two straps. He also wore black pants and black, silver-lined, knee-high boots. On his chest was the Heartless emblem, but it seemed to be part of his coat rather than his body. Speaking of his coat, it was red on the inside and lined with yellow, also had a large grey section covering the lower half and shoulders of the coat, was high-collared, and completely unzipped, showing a second, shorter jacket underneath. This second jacket was white and high-collared much like the outer coat, mostly unbuttoned and exposing his chest before being closed up by three buttons and two belts near the waist, only to flare outward again, leaving three buttons undone.

Beside him was a black figure. His head was completely round, lacking any features save for a few thin lnes where his closed mouth was. His eyes were open and glowed in an evil red color. His body was slim, and his arms ended in round ends, although there were lines that defined fingers. His legs ended in the same way, but he seemed to be completely balanced. In all respects, he was shaped just like Chosen One, although whether or not he was related to him was not an important question right now.

"So, you have awakened at last, Princess.", the black man spoke, and then I knew. I knew this was the mysterious figure Sora and I first encountered at Destiny Islands, a day before its destruction by the Heartless. The man named Ansem. "The Keyhole is now complete. You have served your purpose. But now it's over."

As the two then began to walk slowly toward us, Donald, Goofy, me, Gregorio, and Yoris readied our weapons, the latter handing what I assumed to be Windelle's Heart to Kairi as she retreated behind us before bringing out his cannon. Florina got up as well as she stood next to me and called out her RefLuxGun.

"Don't make another move!", Donald declared.

"Do you think we can stop him all by ourselves?", Goofy asked as he turned to the court Wizard.

"I don't know!"

"But we've gotta try.", said Florina.

There were a couple of questions I wanted to ask her, but I knew that would have to wait.

"I see that the girl is awake, but no matter.", the black figure said and I knew this was Stickee, who possessed Windelle's body. "I have collected so much darkness I no longer need the wielders."

"What? But I—" I looked back at the time I destroyed the gun just a minute ago.

"Did you really think that gun was the only one I created?" Stickee then produced another Gun of Darkness, then aimed it at us. "Now. I believe it's time to destroy them, Mas—"

The 'stick figure' and Ansem sudenly stopped in their tracks, as if something caught their attention. Just then, the Heart Kairi was holding began to float past my head and make its way to Stickee's body, entering it. Then, they seemed to try to move again, but this time they seemed to be pinned by some unknown force.

"Impossible…", grunted Ansem as an image if Riku and Windelle appeared in front of him and Stickee, facing us and barring the ones behind them from continuing, although I knew they wouldn't last long.

"No. You won't use us for this!", Windelle declared.

"Riku!", cried out Kairi.

"Windelle!", came the voices of Florina, Yoris, and Gregorio.

"Windelle?", Ilsa muttered to herself.

"You've got to run!", Riku warned. "The Heartless are coming!" As if on cue, Shadow Heartless appeared all around.

Kairi stood for a moment before nodding, and immediately, she ran down the right stairway. Yoris, Florina, and Gregorio subsequently followed, obligated to protect their friend. Donald, Goofy, Ilsa, and I went after them as well. We ran all the way past the capsules that once contained the Alice, Jasmine, and the others, but Beast was nowhere in sight.

Before I could wonder where he was, Goofy said, "What about the Keyhole?"

"Let's just get out of here!", Donald replied.

And that was what we did. With haste, we went back the way we came, taking out Heartless along the way and I managed to see Florina's 'fighting style'. Right after I healed her up, she was nimbly moving around the field, swerving round us to land accurate hits, even running along walls to get to where she wants to go. Just in case, I handed Kairi the machete as an emergency weapon. She felt nervous holding it, but Yoris assured her she wouldn't need to use it.

At the ginormous lift, a massive horde of Heartless ambushed us. As we fought them off, I thought of Sora, then remembered his summon gems. i took out one of them, and held it up high. As I didn't know whether they would respond with my invocation phrase, I used Sora's.

"Give me strength."

The stone lit up in my hand, beams of light escaping brilliantly through the cracks in my fingers. A force exploded outward in a circle around me, knocking everyone around me a little. Beams of light shot out of the floor around my feet and quickly spiraled upward, swallowing me in a spiral of blue light. When the light faded, there stood Bambi.

The young fawn looked around in confusion (and Kairi stared at him in awe), seemingly looking for someone.

I didn't like being the bearer of bad news, so I told him, "If you're looking for Sora, he's…not around. We could use your help right now. Could you heal us?"

Bambi nodded and began to prance around the field, dropping orbs restoring magic power as he passed. He also dropped a few healing orbs whenever any of us defeated a Heartless. Florina seemed a little confused as to why a fawn is prancing around a battlefield with Heartless. I was also confused as to how Bambi could keep up his current disposition with his world destroyed and all. Of course, I could attribute it to him keeping a brave face, but I didn't focus on that as I did my best to keep everybody alive. Luckily, I didn't have to worry too much about that as everybody seemed to be capable of taking care of themselves.

Just after defeated the last of the Heartless, Bambi then made a great leap, dropping a Mega-Potion for us before disappearing, which I claimed.

"Just who was that?", Florina asked me as we disembarked the giant lift.

"That was a summon. His name's Bambi. He serves as a healer."

"You know, I'm curious as to why you're not asking me on what I've been through."

"I was planning to later."

"I see."

As we got to one of the many lifts in the Lift Stop, Florina had a question. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know! Let's get on the Gummi Ship!"

"What's going to happen to the world?", Ilsa then asked.

"Like all other worlds.", Goofy answered. "Be consumed by the darkness!"

"We need to close the Keyhole, but without someone who bears it—like Sora—all we can do is run.", I added. "I'm sorry he's gone."

"Why are you blaming yourself for what happened to him?", Kairi asked me.

"Because I was the one stopping him from stabbing himself with the Keyblade to release your Heart. But my grip faltered when he tossed me his summon gems."

Kairi put a hand on my shoulder, obviouly in an attempt to console me but not knowing how to do it. As the lift we were in reached its destination, we disembarked it and continued on.

We spoke no further until we made it to the entrance hall where we first clashed with Riku and Windelle in their dark forms. Just as we all went down the stairs, Kairi stopped just at the top, looking back to the doorway we just left. I stopped as well.

"Kairi, hurry!", called out Yoris.

"I can't leave them behind!", she replied.

"We can't stay here!", told Gregorio as Kairi complied.

"A Heartless is after us!", said Goofy.

"I'll take care of him!", said Donald as he took out his staff. As we all gathered at the center to rest and recuperate before leaving this blasted castle. But something in my mind told me that we had to come back another time. Just then, a Shadow Heartless came into view. As it walked down the steps, we could see it was alone. And it seemed to be trying to walk on its hind legs. I couldn't place my finger on it, but I could tell this Shadow was different.

As it then approached us, Donald bonked it in the head with his staff. "Confounded Heartless! Get lost, will ya?"

The Shadow did not faze in the slightest as it then turned its head to Kairi.

"Sora…?", she suddenly said.

Needless to say, we were skeptical.

"Whaaaaaa?", gasped Donald, Goofy, Yoris, and Gregorio.

"Huh?", said the other two girls in the group and me.

"How can this be Sora?", Gregorio asked.

"I don't know. But I feel it." She then bent down to the Shadow. "And if you look closely, the shape of the calves are the same…"

"Huuuh?", gasped Donald.

"Come to think of it…" Yoris said as he bent down too. "She's right. This Shadow's calves are indeed like Sora's."

"Sora…it **is** you, right?", Kairi said as she then embraced it. "Please come back."

"Uh-oh!", gasped Goofy.

Before we knew it, we were surrounded by the other Shadow Heartless.

"Everybody form a circle around Kairi and her Shadow.", I found myself saying. Luckily, everyone followed, tight enough so that no Shadow could get past us, but loose enough so we wouldn't hit each other and can turn around should they go 'under' and bypass us.

"This time, I'll protect you.", Kairi told the Shadow she assumed was Sora and brandished the machete I gave her. Luckily, she didn't need to use it as the rest of us managed to defend them and ourselves efficiently. It was easy, really. Just a couple of Shadows. We already beat much tougher Heartless moments before.

Once they were all gone, a thought came to my mind. "I wonder…" I took out Sora's Toy Sword from my bag and hurled it to the Shadow we were protecting. As it clattered to the ground, the Shadow picked it up, struggled a bit with its weight, but managed to enter a stance we were all familiar with. Some of us still had doubts, but this sealed the deal for me. Somehow, this Shadow was indeed Sora.

Suddenly, another wave of Heartless appeared, this time consisting of one Defender, one Wizard, and five Darkballs. Seeing a defensive wall wouldn't do much good with the spellcaster Heartless around, we split off, and Florina and I were tasked to defend the Sora-Shadow and Kairi.

I watched Ilsa pound through the Darkballs with Gregorio's assistance. I saw Donald duel the Wizard as they cast spells and dodged the best they could. Goofy and Yoris worked in tandem against the Defender. But then a Wyvern was summoned out of nowhere, catching me off guard for a bit since they never appear indoors. It swooped down toward us and I began to shoot at it, but it kept dodging. As for Florina, she was aiming as well, but wasn't firing yet.

And then she fired a shot, which hit the Wyvern upside on the head and it suddenly flipped back as if stunned. I was surprised at this as any shot I made had the same response on all Heartless no matter where I hit them. I assumed the RefLuxGun had some differences, but I decided to save it for later. And then I noticed something I had always missed this whole time; usually, the DirLuxGun was warm to the touch, but it grew cooler as it neared depletion.

I voiced my thoughts to Florina and not only did I discover that she already knew that, she chided me for not knowing this telltale sign. I sheepily apologized as another wave appeared just as Kairi ended up having to use the machete to fend off a Darkball Ilsa and Gregorio missed. I quickly got that covered with a few shots.

Once the area was cleared of Heartless (for now), as I rested my arms, still gripping the DirLuxGun, it lighty tapped at Florina's RefLuxGun as we rested our backs to each other. As they did, they suddenly emitted a soft white glow, which came along with a little whining sound. Florina noticed it too as she turned around so that she was now to my left. Then, our guns seemed to move on ther own and aimed themselves straight for, to my (as well as Florina's and Kairi's) shock, the Sora-Shadow.

Before we could attempt to turn our guns away, both the DirLuxGun and RefLuxGun emitted a beam…not from the barrels, but from the lenses. The two beams expanded until they were like a small spotlight, and both of them shone over the Shadow. What happened next was startlingly dazzling. The Shadow began to glow white, and then its form slowly began to change, reminding me of some monsters that changed form after certain conditions were met. (3)

After a few seconds, in place of the Shadow was somethine resembling one of those Shadow Soras we encountered back at Neverland, except this was white, and there were no glowing eyes; he was effectively a solidified silhouette. None of us had any idea on what to do next and just stood there puzzled. Then, Kairi decided to step forward up to this white silhouette, then it suddenly pulled her up into an embrace, which she returned in kind. What followed next was something truly amazing. From the bottom up, white twinkles dispersed from the 'silhouette', eventually unveiling—

"Kairi, thank you.", he said.

"Sora!", everybody save for myself and Kairi yelled.

Somehow, perhaps by some miracle, the Shadow that had turned into a white silhouette thanks to us turned out to be Sora the entire time! I could hardly contain my joy, yet was so stunned I didn't move. I wanted to ask him how he had "returned" as a Shadow, but that would have to come later as well.

Sora then turned to Florina and me. "Guys, thank you, too."

"Sora…", Kairi managed to say.

Just then, this reunion was ruined by a horde of Shadow Heartless surrounding us. Immediately, we were on full alert as we stood in a defensive circle around Kairi. To my relief, Sora was able to summon the Keyblade. For a minute, I was worried that his (temporary) being a Heartless affected his being able to summon it, but apparently that wasn't the case.

Before either side could attack, there came a roar from above the stairway. We turned to see that Beast was the one doing it. He then jumped down in front of the fountain and swiped at a Shadow, destroying it.

"Beast!", Ilsa gasped. "Where've you been?"

He didn't so much as reply. Rather, he seemed to ignore her question as he ordered, "Go! Now!"

"Come with us!", Sora pleaded as we turned to the door.

"There're too many Heartless!", I added.

"I told you before, I'm not leaving without Belle. Now, go! The Heartless are coming!"

He said these words with a tone of authority so great we didn't have the heart to disobey. Even Ilsa seemed distraught in leaving him behind, but we all complied in the end. Together, the nine of us sped out across the hallway, out through the main door, to the lift all the way to the rising waterfalls, and down the floating rock platforms all the way to the Excalibur. Quickly, all nine of us entered it and we made it all the way to the cockpit, where Donald started the engines. Immediately, the Gummi Ship was up in the air, back into space next to the Destiny.

"Get the Destiny!", Gregorio ordered. Donald pushed a button and I could see what looked like a tow cable shoot out of somewhere in the Excalibur and latched onto the Destiny. "Let's get out of here! Warp drive!" Donald pushed another button and a wormhole opened in front of us and both our ships crossed it, leaving Hollow Bastion far behind it.

**Beast**

_A prince who was changed into a hideous beast because of his selfish heart. Belle has helped heal the loneliness he's suffered due to his ugliness. To save Belle, he made his way to Hollow Bastion alongside Ilsa._

_He was first enchanted by Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" (1991)._

**Ilsa**

_An operative of a secret organization called the Neopets Agency in the far-off world of Neopia. In an attempt to find some fellow operatives who have gone missing, she and two others crossed a portal their missing colleagues took. They ended up being separated and she found herself in Beast's world, where she befriended him and Belle. Upon the world being lost to the darkness, she followed Beast all the way to Hollow Bastion._

_Her debut was in the first Altaador Cup in "_Neopets" (2006)_.  
><em>

**Belle**

_A brave and intelligent young woman who understands the Beast's true nature. She's one of the seven princesses needed to open the final Keyhole. She and the Beast have lost their world to the darkness._

_She appeared at the Beast's castle for the first time in "Beauty and the Beast" (1991)_

**Maleficent**

_A sorceress of awesome power. She tried to use the Heartless for her own evil ends, but the Heartless were actually using her. She turned into a huge dragon when cornered by Sora and his friends._

_She first appeared to curse Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959)._

**Maleficent (Dragon)**

_Maleficent became a huge dragon when the Keyblade released the darkness in her heart. The dragon wielded both Maleficent's power and the terrible forces of darkness._

_Maleficent's powerful alter ego first appeared in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959)._

**Xin**

_A man who works with Maleficent. It is not known if he controlled the Heartless alongside her, if he is under her command, or if she is under his. It turns out they were both played for fools by the Heartless. He transformed into his Vajradhara form when cornered by Rael and company. In the end, he escaped, vowing revenge._

**Xin (Vajradhara)**

_Xin turned into a monstrous behemoth when the Keyblade released the darkness in his heart. The Vajradhara wielded Xin's power and maintained some level of intelligence._

**Ansem, Seeker of Darkness**

_As a researcher and ruler of his world, he studied the Heartless and delved into the many secrets of the worlds. While studying the heart and the darkness within it, he was possessed by darkness and ultimately destroyed his own world. He sacrificed his body to attain great power, and later possessed Riku's to regain a physical presence. Failure to stop him means the end of all worlds._

**Stickee**

_Assistant to Ansem. Very little is known about him, but what is known is that he was an experiment of Ansem's, and that he has taken possesion of Windelle's body._

**Riku**

_When Kairi lost her heart, Riku allied himself with Maleficent and Xin to save her. Riku was actually the rightful master of the Keyblade, but once he chose darkness over light, the weapon chose Sora instead. Ansem exploited Riku's weakness of heart and possessed him._

**Windelle**

_For reasons unknown, Windelle allied himself with Maleficent and Xin alongside Riku. At some unknown point in time, his body was possessed by Stickee and his heart and Florina's were 'imprisoned' in a gun of darkness. His heart was soon released, but it is now imprisoned in Stickee's body._

**Florina**

_She was with Sora and Rael during the island's last moments and they had been separated. She was found and captured by Stickee and her heart extracted alonside Windelle's to create a gun of darkness. Her heart was soon freed and now she accompanies the little band that is the worlds' only hope against Ansem._

**Kairi**

_Kairi, Sora, and Riku always hung out together. When their island vanished, Kairi lost her heart. It turned out that it was hidden within Sora's. As one of the princesses with the power to unlock the secret Keyhole, Kairi restored Sora's heart when he was turned into a Heartless._

(1) Escape From The Heartless: Case of Two Furries and a Candlestick. It's not a dream sequence 'I' am having.

(2) Sonic the Hedgehog's Super Form comes to mind.

(3) Pokémon!

Bertie: You ignored me last chapter. Care to explain why?

nightelf37: Sorry. This took so long to get around completing. I really should finish this.

Kep: What of the perspecitves in the 'original entries'? Some of them were put in first-person mode, others in third.

nightelf37: Sorry. Had problems with that. I'll try and be consistent next time. See ya on Third!


	19. Chapter 15: Perparations

nightelf37: Remember, the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there, or the manga, or the movie where the current world is based on (if there even is), I 'owns' it. And here is 'my' current Power Orb inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Esuna, Regen, Firaga, Thundaga, Slow, Shell, Aerora, Curaga, Graviga

(skills) Shield Boomer, Taiyou

(summons) Requiem

In storage:

(spells) Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Cure, Aero, Gravity, Poison, Silence, Stop, Charm, Confuse, Protect, Dispel, Fira, Thundara, Blizzara, Cura, Blind, Immobilize, Disable, Sleep, Haste, Float, Mini, Petrify, Gravira, Stopra, Blizzaga, Aeroga, Graviga, Stopga

(skills) Boomer Blast, Sky Dropper, Aura Wave, Yoyo Shot, Aura Wave, Combo Shots

(summons) Baloo, Bahamut (with Merlin), XR, ? (not yet 'activated'), Flit

Chapter 15: Preparations

Part I. Return to Traverse Town

As both our ships crossed the wormhole taking us to Traverse Town, we took the time to ask Florina on her adventures prior to our reunion in Hollow Bastion. Me, Florina, Yoris, Gregorio, Ilsa, we were all on the cockpit of the Destiny, which we returned to whilst in he wormhole. The girls took the two seats while Gregorio was on the controls as usual.

She told us that after she, Sora, and I got sucked into that black thing that destroyed Destiny Islands, she woke up in an alley Traverse Town. As it was, she had been knocked out for a good deal longer than me, as I had deduced when she mentioned that upon leaving the alley, she noticed a man in a khaki long jacket and a brunette girl in a blue duster sweater and black shorts, the former carrying someone in his arms.

After that, just as she walked over to Cid's store, she then encountered that guy who gave me my munny bag, who gave a munny bag to her as well in addition to a satchel for items. I hadn't been given one as I already had my haversack. She then went to Second District, where she fought off Heartless, making her way to Third District. Then, somewhere, she found a star-shaped item that was blue on the outside and green on the inside. However, one of the 'ends' of the star was replaced with a green something in zigzagging lines. Just as she held it, twinkling lights surrounded her and she was in another world. (1)

She had traveled like this for a couple of days, hoarding food whenever she could, getting real lucky in Wonderland and Deep Jungle, before finally landing in Neverland, where she inadvertently lost the star object she had (how she knew the worlds' names she got it from us after she explained her surroundings at the time). She went by in Neverland for half a day before being found by, abducted, bound and gagged, and brought on board a ship by Captain Hook and Geng.

She had been asked a few questions and was surprised to see Windelle there. However, immediately she could tell that something was wrong with him. They had a short fallout during the questioning and soon, she decided to break herself free. She escaped her bounds and fought through Heartless on the way out, but only managed to make it up to the main deck before running into Windelle. He tried 'reasoning' with her, but she knew all too well that this Windelle was no longer the one she knew. The next thing she remembered was waking up in Hollow Bastion after Sora sacrificed himself to get back Kairi's Heart.

"Oh, and another thing.", she said as she then reached into her pocket. "I found this while I was in Wonderland." She then took out a peculiar item; it resembled some kind of small mecha and it had either a Moogle's head or a miniature Moogle riding it.

"The last 'part'!", gasped Yoris.

Just then, something shone from the main pocket of my haversack. Yoris rummaged it and took out the rest of the 'parts' we had collected. They were all glowing and the last one followed suit. The 'parts' we collected then turned into little spheres of energy and made their way into the little mecha. This glowing persisted for eight seconds before fading. However, the Moogle's eyes on the mecha were still glowing. Its head then turned towards me.

"Wha—" was all I could say before it did its stuff; it shot eye beams at me, at my own two eyes to be exact. The moment it did, all I saw was white while my hearing became fuzzy as my companions called out my name. This sensation lasted for five seconds before I felt the back of my head hit something, after which everything went black.

That was when my hearing got clearer, but that wasn't the only thing. I could feel my mind clearing up in places where they were once fuzzy, but when I opened my eyes, all I could see was an orange circle with an open book inside it.

"_Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,_" a voice came.

"_Consectetur adipisicing elit,_

_sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt _

_ut labore et dolore magna aliqua._"

I didn't understand what it meant, but I somehow knew that while I now remember many of the things that were once fuzzy when I tried to recall them, I was not to tell anybody about "certain things" until "certain things" happen. Like if I see something familiar that I've seen on television, a book I read, or a video game I played, I was not to mention what it was or that I know of it until told of it by another.

I then felt my head shake and the image blurred, then my vision cleared as I saw Florina looking right at me, her hands to my head. I could hear her calling my name as it got louder.

"Are you all right?", I heard her ask me.

I groaned in response, then said, "Yeah…"

"What happened?"

I looked at the small mecha and could see small gears in it whirring as its limbs moved slowly, trying to get off of Florina's hands. "I wonder what this thing is?"

"Whatever it is, it's what Chosen One was looking for.", Yoris said as he gently took the device from her and made his way to the lift. "I'm gonna put this away and report to him once we meet with him again." With that, he was down the lift.

Just as that happened, we exited the wormhole and Traverse Town was now just ahead of us.

"Ahh…", sighed Gregorio in relief. "Home base."

"Yeah. Let's get back to the Refuge Asylum."

KHKHKHKHKH

Upon landing near the gates of Traverse Town, Sora, Donald, and Goofy decided to take Kairi to the house where Leon and company were staying while the rest of us made our way to the Refuge Asylum. After seeing room 10 was empty again, we made our way to room 8, where everyone was.

The first thing that happened was that Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie ran into Florina and hugged her like there's no tomorrow. Next, after getting the three off of her, Gregorio introduced Florina and Ilsa to everyone. Once that was over with, Rinoa raised an eyebrow.

"Looks like you five have been through…" She then put a finger to her lips as she tried to figure out the last word.

"Hell?", guessed Zell.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Pretty much.", I answered.

"Mind telling us what happened?", asked Quistis.

And that's what we did. It took a good half-hour to get all the details down, but once we were finished…

"So the darkness is flowing out of the Keyhole…", mused Irvine.

"No wonder there are more and more Heartless all over the place.", said Quisits. "I believe the only way to stop them is—"

"To have Sora seal the Keyhole?", asked Florina.

"Right." Irvine nodded his head. "However, who knows what may happen once that's done?"

"Well, we can't just stick around doing nothing.", Ilsa voiced her fustration. "We got friends back there."

"Right.", the sniper agreed. "You have friends to worry about." He then turned to me. "If anyone can save them, it's you."

"Me?", I asked.

"All of you, I mean. Together with Sora, Donald, and Goofy."

Just then, I seemed to recall something, as have Yoris and Gregorio. "Kept forgetting this, so might as well tell you all now. Sora has been staying with some other company and they had helped him just as you have helped me."

"Do you know the small abandoned house in the Third District?", Yoris asked.

"There are a number of such houses there.", pointed out Zell. "Or do you mean…"

"This company is the same people you have overheard about the stuff conerning the Keyblade."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Their names are Cid, Aerith, Yuffie, and Leon."

"Perhaps you could visit them sometime?", asked Gregorio.

"That's a strange request.", mused Irvine as he put a finger to his chin. "And I think you guys told us about him before. …Can't hurt to try again."

"I just hope we don't get teleported again.", mumbled Zell.

"Can we see Kairi, please?", Selphie interrupted. "She's with you, right?"

"Oh, yeah.", said Florina. "We should probably get going." She turned for the door when Gregorio went for the portal one leading to the sewers and opened it.

"This way.", the lancer said as he walked through.

"What makes you say that's the way?", I asked as we followed all the way to the edge of the water.

"Remember the route Sora took to meet up with Leon?"

"Oh right. We haven't checked the place." I took out my hover scooter and activated it, entending its platform for all of us to get on. However, there was no room for Ilsa.

"At least the water isn't too filthy.", the Ixi shrugged as she jumped into the water. We made our way to the fork in the path where Gregorio, Yoris, and I once temporarily parted ways with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. We took the path we didn't take and heard voices.

This area of the cavern was raised above the water, and there were two large torches lighting the place up, placed on either side of a brightly colored manmade stone entrance. The water was shallower near the stone entrance, where we saw Sora and Kairi standing near. They seemed to be having a tender moment and we stopped just out of their sight.

"A light at the end of the tunnel…", we heard Kairi say as she looked off somewhere at something not in our view.

"Oh, your grandma's story, right?", Sora replied as he stood a few paces from her. I then remembered that dream I had before we took off for Hollow Bastion.

Kairi turned to face him in surprise, then gave a smile. "That's right. We were together."

"You know what's funny? I looked everywhere for you, but you were with me all along." Sora then walked towards his childhood friend. "Finally, we're together, Kairi. Now, it's time to get Riku back."

"Don't forget Windelle."

"Right."

Kairi then changed the subject. "You think it'll ever be the same again between us? Riku's lost his…"

."When I turned into a Heartless, you saved me, remember?" Sora replied. "I was lost in the darkness. I couldn't find my way. As I stumbled through the dark, I started forgetting things-my friends, who I was. The darkness almost swallowed me. But then I heard your voice—your voice. You brought me back."

"Not just me. Rael and Florina also helped. If it weren't for their Guns of Light, I don't know if I still could've…" Kairi cut herself off, not knowing what more to say on the matter. After a few more seconds, she said, "I didn't want to just forget about you, Sora. I couldn't."

"That's it!" Sora suddenly gasped as he turned to where Kairi was first facing when we arrived. "Our hearts are connected." He put an open hand to his chest. "And the light from our hearts broke through the darkness. I saw that light. I think that's what saved me." He then took a step forward, though he still didn't notice us. "No matter how deep the darkness, a light shines within. I guess it's more than just a fairy tale." He then turned to face Kairi again.

"Well, let's go."

"You can't go.", the Keyblade wielder objected.

"Why not?"

"Because it's way too dangerous." I silently agreed. Without any real combat training, or controllable combat magic, she was just going to be the load.

I then saw Kairi hold her left arm with her right hand behind her back, looking down at a certain way… "Come on, Sora. We made it this far by sticking together." She then looked back up at him. "You can't go alone."

"Kairi, even if we're apart, we're not alone anymore. Right?"

There was silence for a second. "I can't help?", Kairi finally said.

"You'd kind of be in my way.", Sora sheepishly admitted.

There was a pause for two seconds before Kairi conceded. "Okay. You win." She then took Sora's hands and gave him something. "Take this. It's my lucky charm." She bent down forward to make sure Sora got the message. "Be sure to bring it back to me."

"Don't worry. I will."

"Promise?" Kairi looked pleadingly.

Sora nodded. "Promise."

There was another moment of silence before Kairi spoke again. "Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you."

The two of them cherished this moment for a while longer before Donald and Goofy came in from the stone entrance. At around the same time, Ilsa let out a sneeze for some reason, alerting them to our presence as they turned to face us. As the five of us made our way to 'shore', Sora and Kairi turned away from each other; apparently, they figured we had overheard their tender moment together. Goofy chuckled at this and Donald just frowned at us.

"We've been looking for you, Sora.", Gregorio said. "Figured you'd be here."

"How—"

"We just took the fork you took and we didn't when we entered the sewers for the first time."

"Oh."

"Oh, right.", Yoris then said. "Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie are waiting to see you again, Kairi."

"They're here?!"

"Yeah. Shall we take you there?"

Kairi nodded as Yoris turned to me and asked if he could borrow the hover scooter. I allowed him to as he, Gregorio, and Florina took her away. As Ilsa went over to a torch to dry herself, I turned to Sora and said, "Let's head to Merlin's. If I recall correctly, we got two new summons, one for each of us."

"Okay." He then made his way to the stone entrance. "This way."

I followed him to find a blue staircase to the left. As we slowly walked up it, I checked my Power Orbs, particularly the new ones we acquired at Hollow Bastion. In particular, I looked at the yellow one, which I now had a familiar inkling of.

_Hmm…now what does __**he**__ have to do with all this?_, I thought._ Is he the fourth wielder? Now how did I even come up with that conclusion?_

All of a sudden, I was pulled back by the sleeve of my shirt. I turned to see Sora having done that, then I looked at what was in front of me and saw that I was now looking at a flat stone platform that was floating mid-air. Were it not for him, I would've bumped my head onto it.

"Thanks.", I said.

"No problem." He then gestured to the platform. "Shall we?"

Just befoe I could nod my head in affirmation, Donald, Goofy, Ilsa, Yoris, Florina, and Gregorio were up the stairs after us. The last of them held the hover scooter and handed it back to me. Once I stored it, we all went up to the platform and it rose. There was then a flash of light and before we knew it, we were in Merlin's house.

We introduced the girls in our group to him and they demonstrated their skills. We then introduced Merlin to them and explained what he did and what he was to us. Then, as Sora took the remaining Torn Pages and 'entered' the Pooh Book, I went to Merlin to consult about the Power Orbs.

"You see…", I was saying. "I think I have too many Power Orbs and it's becoming a hassle to go through them all. I was wondering if you could…uhh…"

"You wish to combine several of your Power Orbs so that you would have fewer to hold?", Merlin guessed.

"Something like that."

"Well, I do know of one such method. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I do not currently have the means or knowledge to fulfill your request."

"But—"

"As I've said before, just because I have magic and am more skilled in its use than any of you doesn't mean I can solve all your problems."

I rubbed the back of my head in remembering. "Oh, right." After a moment of silence, I then asked, "Umm…about Bahamut…"

"You're gonna ask if you're ready to summon him?" I nodded in affirmation. "Well, you have progressed far, but…you still aren't yet ready." I sighed in disappointment. "The good news is, you will be very soon."

"Really?" Merlin just nodded his head in affirmation.

Just then, there was a flash of light from the book and Sora was back. Better yet, the book seemed to have changed appearance. I gently pushed Sora aside, picked up the closed book, and took a good look at it as my companions came up and looked over my shoulders.

The title "Winnie the Pooh" was in a serif font, plain black and in all capital letters. Below was a portrait of Sora holding Pooh's hand, who in turn is holding Piglet's, with Tigger bouncing next to them arms into the sky. All of them hd their backs to us as they seemed to be walking down a dirt path flanked with grass.

When I asked Sora whom he has met, he told me he also met Eeyore and Roo, but not Kanga (though Roo did mention her), Gopher, or Christopher Robin. He also told us that he has sealed the world's Keyhole and that it will be safe from the Heartless.

Once that was over with, we then went over to the Fairy Godmother's model carriage and called her up. Sora and I took out our stones and offered them to her. After inspecting the two, she took Sora's first.

"Let's help this one first.", she said lightly. "Here we go! Bibbity bobbity boo!"

With another twinkling of white lights, there was a flash. We all covered our eyes due to the brightness. As the light finally began to dissipate, the silhouette of a small animal appeared. When the light faded, from what I could discern of it, it seemed to be a small and slender red dragon of the Eastern type. He had blue horns, a gold mustache, a yellow underbelly, a dark red nose, black eyes, and stood about eighteen inches tall.

"Huh?", it asked as it faced the Fairy Godmother's robe, not realizing it was standing on her hands. "Where am I?"

"A lizard? How's a lizard supposed to help us?", Donald asked skeptically.

"Lizard?!", it retorted as it then turned around to face the eight of us (Merlin was now busy searching his books, presumably about to look for the knowledge he needed for my request). "I'll have you know that I'm a bona fide guardian dragon!"

"Aren't you a little small for that?" Sora asked.

"Not all dragons are necessarily large, you know.", piped in Ilsa. "There are some that are around your size, then there are those like him." She gestured to the dragon.

Florina bent down to face the little dragon. "What's your name?"

The little dragon replied with an elaborate spectacle of sorts I didn't bother to remember, but the basics was that his name was Mushu.

"Can I stay with you?", he then asked, a grin on his face. We were a bit speechless from his request. "Can I stay with you? Please?"

"What can you do?" Donald asked.

He was answered by Mushu spewing out a burst of flames from his mouth, setting a few of the duck's feathers on fire. Donald naturally panicked and went outside the house, presumably to put out the flames.

"Uhh…sure.", Sora answered Mushu.

"Mind tellin' me what I'm about to get myself into?"

"Hold on.", I said. "We haven't even asked what happened to his world."

"About that? Well, in the temple where I just was before finding myself in a dark void and then here, it's completely normal, but outside there's nothing but blackness and the occasional pair of yellow orbs."

"Oh no.", groaned Yoris. "The Heartless have taken over your world. But for some reason, your temple has remained unharmed."

"Heartless?"

As Donald shortly returned, we gave him a short explanation on what they were, and that his world was taken by them. And that anybody left there (presumably outside the temple) was gone. As expected from him, he was shocked from the news. Luckily, he did not end up running off like Simba, Dumbo, and Baloo had. We then told him that we can get his world back; he just needs to help us. Of course, he had already accepted the offer and soon disappeared into the red orb he was found in.

Once that was over with, I then handed my orb to the Fairy Godmother. As usual, she did her stuff.

"Bibbity… Bobbity… Boo!"

Again, with another twinkling of white lights, there was a flash. Once the light faded, we were once again surprised as whoever was inside was not an animal. Instead, this one looked like a golden candelabra. There were three candles on it, but the center one was not only much longer, it had a face on it. And not just a rough sketch or anything like that. It was as if the candelabra was alive as its face moved like any face of a living being.

Before it, Sora, or I could speak, Ilsa beat us to the punch.

"Lumiere!?", she gasped.

"Ilsa?!", the candelabra gasped in return—and I noted its voice to be male—then jumped off the Fairy Godmother's hands and was promptly caught by the Ixi's large ones.

"I'm so glad you're safe!", they both said to each other simultaneously.

"You know him?", asked the Fairy Godmother.

"Yeah.", Ilsa replied. She then gave us a short explanation on how he met him. After that, Lumiere was asked what happened to his world. He gave a full explanation, covering how he came to know of Ilsa, and also covering his world's last moments, details which also covered Belle and Beast.

Once he was finished explaining, we then explained to him what we were doing, and that we would be saving the worlds in the process, getting his world back as well. After hearing us out, he accepted; he was going to help us out.

I turned to the Fairy Godmother and asked what power will she bestow Lumiere. She answered that given what he is, the ability to shoot fire seemed like the best move.

"Will there be a chance for me to see Beast?", Lumiere asked me. "Or Belle?"

"Perhaps, but I'm afraid extended conversation will not be possible.", I said. "Summoner's rules. I'm sorry. Perhaps it's best if…" I was about to say that they can't see one another, but I felt it would sound wrong coming from me. "…if…"

Luckily, Ilsa seemed to get what I couldn't say and said it for me; it would be best if the fact that Lumiere was now one of my summons be withheld from Beast (and Belle). I didn't get what she said, but the candelabra seemed to understand as he disapeared into his orb, which now took a red hue like all my Summon Power Orbs.

As I then replaced one of my current ones with it, the Fairy Godmother then said, "I can sense that all of the gems you could've rescued have been found. Please restore the worlds for everyone's sake."

"We will.", swore Sora.

With that, we left Merlin's house. After hopping the stones, once we reached the door, Sora decided to summon his Keyblade. He then took out Kairi's charm, saw that it can serve as a keychain, and did just that. His Keyblade then changed form once again. This time, its shaft displayed two hearts, and its handle bore two angel wings. As I looked at it from a certain angle, I could see that its teeth were fashioned into a certain symbol. 光

I couldn't tell what it meant, but I could tell that it was a language I knew, but was not familiar with. Ilsa turned around to "read" the teeth of Sora's new Keyblade and said, "Hikari. That stands for 'light'."

At this, Sora turned his Keyblade to "read" the teeth and seemed to get it as well. Ilsa then said, "Now that I think about it, Sora stands for—"

"Sky.", the Keyblade wielder finished. "How are you able to read it?"

"I can read a fair number of languages, but it's fairly small." I seemed to notice that she dodged saying the words "English" and "Japanese", the latter of which I was certain the teeth of the Oathkeeper were read as.

"Enough chatter.", Donald said. "We gotta buy some more supplies before we head off again."

"Yeah.", agreed Gregorio. "We've ran low on healing items just in Hollow Bastion alone."

Sora nodded as his Keyblade vanished in a bright, yellowish-white light, not in the standard white like usual.

KHKHKHKHKH

Making our way back to First District, we fought Heartless on the way. After we defeated them, we noticed that they were not only stronger than before, the sort that we had encountered in Hollow Bastion (Defenders, Wizards, Darkballs, and Wyverns) were here as well. Soon, we made it through the doors between the First and Second Districts, meeting up with Cid. Upon reaching him, Sora produced what looked like a Gummi Block.

"You found it?", asked Cid. "All right, I'll go fix your ship."

Once he said that and was about to leave, Gregorio took out and handed Cid his teleporter device. Once was was gone, we made our way to the item shop tended to by Donald's nephews. There, we purchased supplies thanks to all the Munny we earned from the Hollow Bastion Heartless. As for weapons, we got an 'upgrade' for Yoris's cannon so he can now fire whichever element he likes.

We then went to the Accessory Shop, where we got our protection "updated" as well as gotten new stuff for the girls. Just then, I noticed something we seemed to have missed earlier. There was a ladder within reach leading to a room above. I turned to Sora, who explained that it led to the Synthesis Shop, where the Orichalcum can be put to good use. We all climbed the ladder and entered the room it led to.

As we all made it to the top, I took a look around. The only noteworthy things I could see were two long tables (one of which a Moogle was floating on), and a brick blacksmith's fireplace that seemed to be modified for some reason. Obvisouly, "synthesis" works differently from blacksmithing. There were two other Moogles around as well.

"What's this place?", Ilsa asked.

"This is the Synthesis Shop, kupo.", the Moogle near the "fireplace" explained. "With the use of various materials found all over the worlds, we can create various items for you, kupo."

Sora then reached into his pocket and produced something I never saw him procure until now; a satchel that upon being opened contained all kinds of what I coud only describe as junk. Well, some of the items seemed to have some value, but they had no purpose for us; can't heal with it, can't get "status buffs" from it, can't be used as a throwing item, and don't seem to be able to unlock anything.

"What's that?", I asked.

"Well, from what they told me, these seemingly useless junk can be collected to create more useful items."

"Like?"

One of the other Moogles hovered over to me and produced a list as an answer. I looked at it and saw that it not only showed the names of the items, there were also descriptions, and "stats" like in video games in the case of the equipment. At the bottom of the list was something called "Ultima Weapon" and judging by the name, I figured it was some sort of powerful…well, weapon.

"Okay. So what are we making, Sora?"

The Keyblade wielder held out a hand as if asking for the list. I gave it to him and he looked at it, then at the satchel with all the "ingredients".

KHKHKHKHKH

After a while with synthesizing items and equipment, we made our way out of the Synthesis Shop through the door close to the ladder…and found ourselves just at the area where we talked with Cid a few minutes ago. And the man himself was to our left.

"Had fun at item synthesis?", he guessed.

"Sure did.", admitted Gregorio.

"Well, your ships are all set! You can get going any time." Cid them put a hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it. "I gotta say, I wish you didn't have to face all this danger."

"Well, it's not like we have a choice in the matter.", said Yoris. "Well, wish us luck."

"I certainly will."

"We best be going.", said Gregorio as he took out the teleportation device and we were soon back in the Gummi Ship.

Part II. The Second Opening Theme

nightelf37 comes into the scene with a sheet of paper on hand.

"Readers, this is nightelf37, writer of the Kingdom Hearts Remake series. As this part of the story begins to draw to a close, I decided to 'adjust' the opening accordingly. Opening start!"

_(short music)_

"At last, we rescued Kairi and Florina from the enemies' clutches and have left Hollow Bastion."

('Scene' of Kairi waking up after her heart was returned, then of Florina doing likewise, then of Sora and co. fleeing down the halls of Hollow Bastion after Beast decided to "hold the fort")

"We have also gained another ally by the name of Ilsa."

('Scene' of a blank background with Ilsa flexing a muscle while looking at the 'camera')

"However, Riku and Windelle are still in the hands of the men behind Maleficent and Xin; Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness and his assistant Stickee."

('Scene' of Windelle and Riku warning (-_-) and company (sans an absent Sora) to flee, then of Riku in his dark uniform stabbing Maleficent and Xin with his "Keyblade", then a scene of Ansem and Stickee standing before the heroes and approaching them)

"With greater resolve than before, we now venture to save them from the darkness and save all of the worlds in the process."

('Scene' of Sora with a determined face, then of him in the cockpit of the Excalibur, then fade to the ship itself with the Destiny close by as they sail across space)

_Now Playing: Taiyou no Rakuen (Paradise of the Sun) ~Promised Land~ by Miyuki Kanbe_

_(short instrumental)_

"Now that that is over with, stay tuned. As our adventure continues!"

('Scene' of (-_-) and Sora back-to-back, ready to fight; fade to white)

_Ookina tabi ni deyou taiyou to kaze no kanata he_

(scene of black, symbol of Sora's necklace suddenly shines out of nowhere, then 'camera' zooms through it to get a view of outer space, revealing two Gummi Ships sailing)

_Kitto chizu ni ha nai rakuen no doa wo hiraite_

(shift to horizontal split scene of the Excalibur on the top, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy at the bottom in their cockpit on the bottom; shift to horizontal split scene of the Destiny on bottom and (-_-), Gregorio, and Yoris in their cockpit on the top; scene of the two ships flying across space; fade to white)

_(short instrumental)_

(fade to the classic "Kingdom Hearts" logo, with a yellow box at the lower right reading Remake)

_Kono sekai ni kimi ga umareta asa_

(scene of faded 'circle' with event to the left and background of red filled with white symbols of Sora's necklace; event is of Sora walking down a street of Traverse Town; shift to letterbox view of that screen, with Sora 'in front' of it who had his hands behind his head and eyes closed, he then opens his eyes)

_Shukufuku no kane ga natta_

(scene of faded 'circle' with event to the right and background of yellow filled with stars; event is of (-_-) standing at another street; shift to letterbox view of that screen, with (-_-) 'in front' of it who just stands there, he then raises his hand as if to greet Sora)

(shift to various split screens; one slant split with Sora tilted slightly to the right on the left side and (-_-) flipped reverse on the other; another which is horzontal, showing Sora's eyes at the top and (-_-)'s at the bottom; another which is slant with the left side having (-_-) and the right having Sora, both facing away from each other; another with a 'pillarbox' and two separate panels together, the left having (-_-) and the right having Sora; another which is horizontal, showing (-_-)'s gloves at the top and Sora's at the bottom; yet another which is vertical showing headshots of Sora on the left and (-_-) on the right, facing each other; then the same as before, only this time showing full body shots and both of them walking towards each other)

_Tatta hitotsu takaramono wo daite_

(scene of faded 'circle' with event to the left and background of blue filled with 'Mickey' symbols; event is of Donald and Goofy sitting at a table (1); shift to letterbox view of that screen, with the two 'in front' of it who seem to be waiting for someone, they then both turn to 'camera' and wave gleefully)

_Hito wa umaretekuru_

(scene of faded 'circle' with event to the right and background of green filled with black stars; event is of Gregorio and Yoris walking forward (1); shift to letterbox view of that screen, with the two 'in front' of it who then stop, and then look up to 'meet eyes' with the camera)

(letterbox shifts to green and the two now 'behind' it as their images move to the left; shift to blue letterbox slanted from bottom left to top right, showing Donald and Goofy turned to the right and looking to their right; shift to orange letterbox slanted from top left to bottom right, showing Sora and (-_-) back-to-back; shift to screen split into three parts with two dividers going from bottom left to top right, left screen has Goofy, the center has Sora, and the right has Donald; scene of three 'eyedscreens' (2), Yoris' on top, (-_-)'s in the middle, Gregorio's at the bottom; horizontal split scene with (-_-) and co. on top and Sora and co. at bottom)

_Ano hi no kimochi _

(view of space, with white outlines of (-_-) at the left and Sora at the right in the 'distance', slowly converging to one another as faded headshots of the following appear in order to the beats at the background, Hercules, Tarzan)

_wo wasurenaide_

(At third 'beat', white outlines of the two's faces converging the same way as faded headshots of the following appear in order, Aladdin, Ariel)

_kokoro ni nagareru_

(faded headshots of the following appear in order, Jack Skellington, Peter Pan; at seventh 'beat', outlines 'cross' one another and the faces' eyes open as they diverge; at around the same time, a headshot of Beast appears before fading on the eighth 'beat')

_Dear My Songs_

(fade from darkness to light while headshots of Riku and Windelle flash)

_Bokura wa tabi no tochuu taiyou no kuni wo mezashite_

(scene of (-_-)'s DirLuxGun being summoned, then of (-_-)'s riot shield, then of Sora's Keyblade, which is then flipped so it is gripped tight; then to ascending scene of (-_-) assuming a defensive stance, then of Sora's 'simple' battle stance)

_Donna chizu ni monai_

(scene of Yoris turning right to face the 'camera' with his bazooka, then of Gregorio turning left with his javelin, then of Goofy turning right with his shield, then of Donald turning left with his staff)

_Yakusoku no basho he_

(shift to scene of Ilsa slamming her fist into an open palm, then of Florina aiming her RefLuxGun at the 'camera', then a dark scene with Ansem and Stickee, smiling evilly)

_Arifureta monogatari wo_

(scene of Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith in the Second District Inn, then of Cid in his shop, then of Merlin in his home alongside the Fairy Godmother)

_Hateshinai mirai ni kaete_

(scene of Irvine, Rinoa, Quistis, and Zell in their room at the Refuge Asylum, then of Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka in theirs, then of Kairi smiling sweetly in front of the 'camera')

_Kitto ironna yume kanaete yuku kara… waratte_

(cut to a random scene of the eight heroes fighting off Heartless as the 'camera' circles around the fight, stop at (-_-) and Sora back-to-back as screen fades to white)

_(short instrumental)_

(fade to a 'luminous' background of the group standing in two rows of four; in the top row [left to right] are Ilsa, Gregorio, Florina, and Goofy, and in the bottom row are Yoris, (-_-), an empty space, and Donald; as the logos of FanFiction . Net, Disney, Square-Enix, and "Story Crew" show all around, Sora runs to the group and into the empty space, then flairs a bit by spinning the Keyblade in his hand and then resting it on his shoulder)

A movie projector turns off, revealing to have played the opening theme.

"And that's it.", nightelf37 says. "On with the story!"

Part III. Return to Hollow Bastion

"So, Ilsa.", Yoris began as we made our way back to Hollow Bastion on our Gummi Ships. "Why did you decide to come with us?"

"Yeah.", agreed Gregorio. "We thought you'd be staying behind with Beast."

"Well, I was just staying around with him until I could find a way to traverse the worlds.", Ilsa answered. "Of course I'm still concerned for his safety, but I know he can take care of himself."

"She's looking for some friends of hers, and she apparently won't be able to find them by staying with Beast.", I explained, then received a look from Ilsa that seemed to indicate that it was supposed to be a secret, then I remembered. "Oops, I should not have said that."

"It's okay. They were bound to find out." She then leaned over next to my ear to whisper. "The world-traveling part anyway. They must not know about the Neopet part. If at all possible."

"Why?", I whispered back.

"It's not necessary for them to know."

Before I could ask any further, our ships made it to Hollow Bastion. "We're here.", Gregorio announced.

While the Excalibur descended further down, we stopped the Destiny, then we made our way to the Transwarp Room and teleported ourselves down to where we first landed, the Rising Falls area. As we materialized next to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, I then raised my eyebrows in surprise; Beast was there as well, as if waiting for us.

"Where's Belle?", Sora asked him.

"Still in the castle."

"Against her will?", Goofy wanted to know.

Beast shook his head, "No, I think she stayed for a reason. The other princesses are inside as well."

"Hmm, I wonder why?", mused Florina as she put a finger to her chin, curling her pointer finger just below her mouth.

"Let's go ask them.", suggested Yoris.

"You may need my strength. I'll go with you.", offered Beast.

"Sure.", Ilsa answered, then turned away. "I probably should have stayed with you."

"No. You already told me before that you needed to stay until you cound find a way to leave."

"Right. But…are we still friends?" As she turned again to face Beast, he did likewise, then nodded with a faint hint of a smile. "Thanks."

With that, we made (and fought) our way back to Hollow Bastion. After plowing through lots of tough Heartless, Beast led us to the library, where he was sure Belle would be. he said she always loved reading books and spends most of her time there if not helping Beast with his temper control, helping out the servants, and conversing with Ilsa.

As we navigated the bookshelves, then climbed up the stairway with Beast in the lead and Ilsa right behind, we saw somebody returning a book to its place in a bookshelf, then turn to face us. Sora, Gregorio, Yoris, and I already saw her before in Hollow Bastion. It was—

"Belle!", both Beast and Ilsa cried out. The former then walked toward Belle, who did likewise. They then embraced each other in joyful reunion and I could almost swear they kissed. They then broke off from their embrace as Belle then hugged Ilsa next. The Ixi seemed to do her best not to either crush her or ruin the dress.

After breaking off, the rest of us introduced ourselves to Belle, then we talked for a bit.

KHKHKHKHKH

"You've come to seal the Keyhole, right?", said Belle. "Please, be careful. The darkness is raging deep inside. We've been holding it back, but we can't hold out much longer." As it turns out, the seven Princesses of Heart had special capabilities, though they were unfortunately not relaed to combat. However, they are capable of warding off the darkness, being stronger when together, and can also sense it.

"We'll take care of it.", Sora assured her as he put a fist to his chest with confidence.

"It's a promise.", agreed Florina.

"This is for you." Belle offered a slim chain with a token that looked like a rose. "Use it to face the darkness, as the Beast has."

Sora summoned his Keyblade, took the new keychain, switched it for the onld one, and the Keyblade changed appearance once again. This time, the handguard looked like it was made of stained glass. The blade was purple with a rose design, and the bloom of the rose served as the blade's teeth. The Keyblade's 'rainguard' was designed to resemble the thorny leaves of a rose bush. Then, after gazing into Kairi's charm for a while, he then pocketed it safely.

Just before we bid Belle farewell and made our way deeper into the castle, she told us that the rest of the Princesses were in the Castle Chapel. Beast told us that was at the top, and that was where we went. Eventually, after fighting through tons of Heartless, we made it to the Castle Chapel, where we first battles Maleficent and Xin. As we walked in, we found the rest of the Princesses of Heart. Two were familiar faces to nearly everyone else. I, on the other hand, was in for a treat of nostalgia.

Looking to the right, I could see Cinderella with her fair skin, long, blonde hair tied into a bun, and blue eyes. She was wearing her ball attire, which consisted of long, white gloves reaching halfway up her upper arms, as well as an elegant, flowing, white dress. She also wore a white headband, white earrings, a black choker, and I was certain she had glass slippers on her feet.

I could also see Princess Aurora, remembering her fair skin, indigo eyes, and waist-length, curly, blonde hair. he wore a long-sleeved, strapless and pleated sky-blue dress with a white collar, as well as a gold necklace and tiara.

As we approached the two, Cinderella was the first to speak, "We've been waiting for you, Keyblade master."

"Where's Ansem?", asked Sora.

"Straight to the point, eh?", snarked Yoris.

"Gone."

"When the Keyhole appeared, darkness poured out of it.", said Aurora. "It swallowed Ansem, and he disappeared."

"Though Ansem is gone, the flood of darkness hasn't stopped. We're working together to hold it back."

"I cannot forget the look on his face." Aurora finished, fright evident on her face. "As the darkness engulfed him, he was smiling."

We were all shuddered as we then turned around to see the other princesses, then that bad feeling was washed away when we realized we had found two missing people.

"Jasmine! Alice!", Sora, Donald, Goofy, Yoris, and Gregorio cried out as they ran towards them, Florina, Ilsa, and I walking right behind.

"Sora!" Jasmine cried out as she hugged him tightly. Alice hugged him as well before they both did the same with the others, not counting the girls in our group. However, when Donald and Goofy opened their arms to be embraced by Jasmine, she paused in confusion.

Donald then realized why as he smacked himself in the face; back in Agrabah, Jasmine was a world-native and thus did not see Donald and Goofy as we did. Now in Hollow Bastion, she was a "foreigner" just like we are and thus sees Donald and Goofy as we do.

Gregorio decided to explain and eventually she believed that Donald and Goofy were right in front of her, after which she then embraced the two. All the while, Snow White, the last of the seven Princesses we've encountered, waited patiently for this reunion to end.

Erstwhile, after receiving hugs from Jasmine and Alice, and feeling quite flustered after the former, I turned to look at Snow White. In comparison to the rest of the Princesses of Heart in the Chapel, she was the second youngest, the first falling under Alice. I took the time to see her short, wavy, black hair, brown eyes, long eyelashes, and somewhat pale skin. She wore red lipstick, a red ribbon in her hair tied in a bow, a yellow skirt and blue bodice—the sleeves of which were short and puffy, azure in color, and sported red teardrop-shaped symbols on them—, a high, white collar on the back of her dress, gold slippers, and a red cape tied around her neck by a brown strip of cloth.

Once the hugs were done with, the three Princesses stood side-by-side.

"Sora, please hurry!", Jasmine pleaded. "Darkness is pouring from the Keyhole."

"It's all we can do just to hold back the darkness.", added Alice.

"I don't know how long we can manage even that.", finished Snow White.

"All right, I'm on my way.", said Sora with a nod.

"We're counting on you, Keyblade master. In the meantime, we'll do what we can, too."

With that, we then proceeded to the Grand Hall where we first saw the imprisoned Princesses of Heart. We then made our way to where the Keyhole was. However, as we entered the area, Sora and I noted something.

In the spot where the Gun of Darkness and the Keyblade Ansem wielded was a keychain. It was completely black and its token was a black version of Sora's pendant.

"What is that?", Sora wondered as he pointed to it. He then walked up to it, then bent down to pick it up. I saw him shudder for a second, then place it in his pocket. not wanting to use it and walked up to the Keyhole.

"This is it, Sora," Goofy said as he patted the Keyblade wielder on the back, who then nodded and held up his Keyblade. However, nothing seemed to happened.

"Now what do we do?", Ilsa complained.

"Hold on a second.", Florina realized. "That's not the Keyhole, it's the entrance to it." With that, she walked up to the Heartless crest and placed her hand on it. As she did that, darkness spewed out.

As it then began to pull her in, I was immediately on her aid, trying to pull her away. As they then saw me failing to pull her out, everybody else went to help as well. However, it was all for naught as we got pulled in. Before I knew it, we were all on a heap. Quickly, we got to our feet as we then saw what I assumed to be the Keyhole in the distance.

"Let's just finish this!" Donald screamed as we started walking toward the Keyhole. Just then, there came a loud rumbling, almost knocking us completely off our feet. A large creature even bigger than the Dragon appeared before us.

It was massive and quadrupedal, its body in varying shades of purple. Each of its legs had two toes with black claws. It also had two large, curved white tusks sprouting from its lower jaw that were lilac-colored on their lower half. On its head was a conical, black horn. We could see the Heartless emblem is on its chest and like all Heartless, it had yellow eyes and a jagged maw.

"Behemoth.", the Diary spoke. "Immensely powerful Heartless. With their large frame, they trample enemies, and repel most attacks. Damaging their weak point makes them lose consciousness. Strike them with potent attacks while they are down."

"What was that?", Florina asked me as we all readied for battle.

"My Diary. It records just about everything we've been through, and for some reason it identifies Heartless in this manner."

"Behemoths are ancient monsters that are extremely powerful!", Goofy added. "Ansem must have resurrected one!"

"Then let's make them ancient again!", Sora yelled as he charged. The Behemoth raised a large foot and brought it down on Sora, who moved to the side to avoid it. He then brought down his Keyblade into the foot, but the Behemoth didn't seem to notice as it leaned down so that it was face to face with Sora. With a roar, it generated a powerful wind that blew Sora back to us.

"I don't believe it will be that easy, my friend.", said Beast with a grin. Despite our situation, Sora grinned back and stood with the Keyblade ready. Meanwhile, Goofy rammed into one of the Behemoth's feet but was knocked back like Sora had been. Donald used a Thundara, which did seem to do damage, but it shruged it off like it was nothing.

"Magic.", Yoris said as he looked all over the Behemoth for some kind of weak point.

But Florina was the first to find it. "Everybody! The horn!"

I had a moment of nostalgia from hearing the last two words, but ignored it as she, Yoris, and I opened fire on the black horn, which was glowing with blue energy. As we did that, Sora andd Gregorio were making their way to the Behemoth's back.

Goofy and Beast were using physical attacks and Donald kept firing magic, but there was still very little effect. Ilsa held back for healing and to take over should Beast fall. Just then, the Behemoth reared back and when it slammed back on the ground, there was a great shock wave that knocked back everybody on the ground.

"**Fire!**" Sora incanted from his perch as he shot a volley of fireballs on the Behemoth's horn and it let out a terrible roar. As it then tried as hard as it could to throw Sora and Gregorio off of its head, the latter was already in the air, ready to slam his javelin on the Behemoth's head.

Meanwhile, the rest of us shooters were healed up by Ilsa and we resumed our volley. Feeling my DirLuxGun's energy run low, I changed attack methods and cast Graviga. A dark vortex formed around the Behemoth and attempted to crush it. I could tell it did a lot of damage as it then fell to the ground.

Goofy and Beast took this chance to strike away at the horn and everybody was at it, pummeling it with everything we've got. Just then, it woke up and a widespread Thundaga attack rained down on us. Thankfully, Sora, Ilsa, and I were quick in healing the rest. Immediately, we continued our onslaught, which became a slightly tedious task.

Eventually, the fight ended with something I would remember for quite a while. While I raised my shield to block a Thudaga attack fromt the Behemoth, Florina jumped into the air, and seemed to be about to land on my shield. I seemed to know just what she planned to do. I braced myself as her feet landed on it, then as she jumped off, I gave her a shove as well.

As we saw her head straight for the Behemoth, she held out her RefLuxGun, held it rightward and something came out of the barrel. A blade of yellow energy came out of it and as she approached the humongous Heartless, she swung it at it its horn. As soon as it connected, the horn was cut clean in half and the Behemoth let out a roar before exploding in a great burst of black smoke, releasing a Heart that floated up and out of sight.

Florina then landed on the ground in a crouching position, feet wide apart and supporting her weight with her left hand on the floor, her right hand outstretched and still holding the DirLuxGun, pointed diagonally upwards. Once she stood up, Gregorio, Yoris, and Sora ran straight for her, cheering.

"Wow, Florina!", gasped Gregorio.

"That was awesome!", said Sora.

"Guys, the Keyhole.", Donald reminded.

The Keyblade wielder nodded as we all then approached it. It was shaped like the Heartless emblem, but it was now glowing pink. Sora aimed his Keyblade at the Keyhole. As the tip of the Keyblade began to sparkle, beams of blue light and yellow stars began to swirl into the tip of the Keyblade. Once the power finished accumulating, then a thin beam of bright blue light shot out of the end of the Keyblade. It hit the bottom of the "emblem", which began to glow bright blue. The pink glow then faded to reveal the Heartless Emblem, with the Keyhole at its base. Soon, there was a click, and the "emblem" glowed bright blue before disappearing. The Keyhole remained for a few seconds before fading as well.

"Sora. You did it.", a familiar voice came from outside. We turned around to see an slim arch of green fire. As we approached it, I saw that it looked like a doorway. We walked through it and before we knew it, we were back in the Grand Hall.

Awaiting us were Leon and Aerith, who stood watching. Yuffie was there too, but she was facing away from us as she sat on the railing of the central area we were on, dangling her legs.

"What are you guys doing here?", asked Sora was we approached them.

"We came in Cid's ship.", Yuffie answered without turning around.

"Talk about rude.", Ilsa muttered.

"This is our childhood home.", explained Aerith. "We wanted to see it again."

"It's in worse shape than I feared.", said Leon. "It used to be so peaceful..."

"Don't worry. If we defeat Ansem, all should be restored. Including your island."

Sora was overjoyed and so were Yoris, Gregorio, and Florina. "Really?"

"But, it also means goodbye.", said Yuffie.

"Once the worlds are restored, they'll be separate again.", said Aerith.

"Everyone will go back to where they came from."

"Then I'll visit you guys with the gummi ship.", Sora replied.

"It's not that simple.", Leon told him.

Yuffie turned her head to face us. "Before all this, you didn't know about the other worlds, right?"

"Because every world was isolated.", Aerith explained. "Impassable walls divided them."

"The Heartless destroyed those walls. But if the world return, so will the walls." Yuffie then turned away once more.

"Which means gummi ships will be useless.", finished Leon.

"So you're saying we'll never...?", Sora said, but didn't finish his sentence as he turned to face where the Keyhole once was.

"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."

"No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again.", added Aerith.

Yuffie turned around again and said, "Besides, I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to."

As she then turned away Sora retorted, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, by the way…" Yoris said. "We asked some friends of ours to meet up with you back at Traverse Town. I was wondering if…"

"I'm afraid that meet-up isn't going to happen.", said Leon. "We're not going back to Traverse Town. We're staying here to help fix up this world. It's our home."

Yoris, Gregorio, and I sighed in disappointment. "That's a shame. I guess we'll notify them about that."

Leon nodded, then turned to the Keyblade wielder. "Sora, good luck."

"Oh wait.", Aerith called before we could leave.

"Hmm?", I asked.

"You deserve to have these." She offered four pages of something. As Sora received them, we realized— "It's the rest of Ansem's report. Maleficent and Xin must have collected it."

"Thanks.", I said as we then took out the rest of the pages we collected and pieced them together. However, we then noticed that— "The first page is still missing. I ain't reading this until we find it."

With that, as I put away the pages, Aerith then said, "Ansem disappeared when this world fell to the darkness. It was believed he died defending people from the Heartless. But Ansem was the one who brought them here. Here's a little light to protect you, Sora." She handed him a green scroll, its shade of which was that of the Cure scrolls. It was also much bigger than the one we first collected at Deep Jungle.

After Sora received it and it disappeared, Donald cried out, "The Curaga spell."

"Good luck.", Leon said. And with that, we were on our way out when in the Castle Chapel…

KHKHKHKHKH

Just as we made our way out of the Grand Hall, we could see a mysterious portal. It seemed to be the same one as the one we took when we fought Maleficent and Xin for the second time. The five Princesses of Heart gathered all commented on the portal's appearance.

"I wonder, could that gate's appearance be a sign of something bad?", wondered Cinderella.

"From that gate that suddenly appeared, I can feel the power of darkness... No, not darkness. Something different." Aurora. "Maybe it's a power even more dangerous than darkness."

"On the other side of that gate... I have a bad feeling about this." Snow White.

"If it were the power of darkness, we would be able to hold it back a little. But, this is different. A power other than darkness." Jasmine. "Light, darkness, and a third power..."

"What on earth is that?! A different feeling from darkness... Sora, take care!" Alice.

"Looks like we go another foe to deal with.", said Ilsa. "But if it's not Ansem, or Xin, then who is it?"

"Only one way to find out.", Sra answered as he walked into the portal. Immediately, the rest of us followed. As we came out from the other side, I realized that the portal led us back to the room where we fought Maleficent's Dragon form and Xin's Vajradhara form.

As the eight of us walked forward, I couldn't help but sense something wrong. Sora seemed to sense it too as we both turned around. What we saw caught us off guard.

The first was an individual in a black long-sleeved, hooded trenchcoat with a long, large silver zipper and two drawstrings hanging from the collar.

The second caught me off guard more. The other one was a man in a black skintight spandex suit with silver and red accents. His helmet was silver and had ear protrusions like a wolf's. HIs shin guards, arm guards, and shoulder guards were silver as well with accents of red. At the front of the suit, I half expected something resembling "100"; instead there was a Roman numeral 1, an "I".

And immediately, they bypassed our companions, then phased through us as we gasped and fell back. However, before my rump reached the floor, I experienced a rapid flash of visions.

_"Hello?"_

_"Greetings, young ones. What brings you here this evening?"_

_"Meddling queen."_

_"Are you ready to fight?"_

_"As if I have a choice?"_

_"I can't hold this for long!"_

_"Why should I trouble you in your final hour?"_

_"Name's Carl. I have come to assist you in your quest."_

_"Time to go."_

_"Everyone hold on to me!"_

_"Let your hostage go!"_

_"Don't know, don't care! So long as I can wreak havoc outside the ██████████, what __**she**__ wants doesn't matter."_

_"I'd like you to meet…the Heartless of the one and only…Skardsen!"_

_"We got a bigger crisis on our hands."_

_"Bigger than this?"_

_"Yes. Something that may even threaten the very existence of █████. If they reach it, it may be destroyed."_

_"Surrender the Blue ███████, now!"_

_"Demand denied!"_

_"Please hold the fort for us all. And all of ██████!"_

_"Conscious or not, you're coming with me."_

_"Just because you have manners doesn't mean we'll do as you say."_

_"You're not getting away! You're all mine!"_

_"Well, well, well. It look like the little ███████ and his four yellow pets have made it to the top."_

_"Surrender now. No ██████ can hope to defeat a ██████."_

_"You're not even worth keeping prisoner. So. I'm. Going. To. Kill. You." _

_"Goodbye."_

_"You may not care anymore about what happens to you, but there are those out there that can't have you surrendering."_

_"Find █████ ████████ and bring them home! Cross that portal and find the Keyblade wielder. We'll need him to seal ██████'█ ███████!"_

The visions ended as I fell to the ground. Shoving them aside to worry about later, only to end up forgetting about it completely, I got up with Sora and turned to look at the mysterious individuals as they stopped.

"Who are you?", asked Sora.

"Ah... It seems you are special too.", a voice came, but we weren't certain who spoke. Also, their voices seemed to echo in our heads.

"Ansem...?", asked Goofy.

The two mysterious individuals turned to look over their shoulders.

"That's a familiar sound...", another voice came.

The strange man's black gloved hand opened and a strange, blue light filled with a lattice of hexagonal shapes begins to fizzle in it.

"You look like him.", said that voice.

Sora was getting slightly angry at this riddle and I could tell that everyone else shared the same feeling, although I was surprised that Beast did not charge headlong already. "What's that supposed to mean?!", the Keyblade wielder asked.

He was answered with the hooded figure turning around, energy in hand. Around the same time, the spandex-wearing man turned around as well, taking out a sword hilt, then a slim red blade of energy emerged from it and I was instantly reminded of a lightsaber. Immediately, Sora summoned the Keyblade and poised to block with both hands and I brought up my shield. The hooded man unleashed the energy in his hand in the form of blue lightning, which Sora held back; the spandex-wearing man brought down his blade and a wave of darkness crossed the ground straight for me, which my shield was able to hold back.

For a few seconds, Sora and I strained against the attacks, then somehow managed to push them away. The reflected energy that was meant for Sora hit the ceiling, causing a shower of mortar and fine stone. As for the blade wave meant for me, I directed it to the two's right, where it crashed and scattered some rubble.

The two just stood there facing us, or Sora more specifically. I couldn't tell for sure as their faces were concealed.

"Which means, you are not complete.", said the second voice. "Incomplete one..."

We stood straight, weapons at the ready and everyone else followed suit.

"That power...", said the first voice as the mortar and fine stone fell around them. "Allow me to test your power." As the hooded man's hands then charged up with the same energy as before, the spandex-wearing man then raised his blade high and I can sense the "Fighter Limit" barrier form once again. It took in me and Sora, and took in four others, pushing away Beast, Donald, and Goofy. This left Florina, Gregorio, Yoris, and Ilsa to aid us.

Immediately, the hooded man executed an energy-ball attack, the balls exploding into orb-like, damaging force fields as we dodged them. I promptly cast Regen on everyone and Sora used Aerora to shield us, who then proceeded to summon Tinker Bell as I summoned Requiem. I then followed up with a Graviga on the two, but the spandex-wearing man conjured a barrier of dark energy to protect themselves.

Sora and Gregorio charged right for them, but the hooded man repelled them with a large rectangular barrier that flashed for a second, forcing them back and damaging them. The hooded man then produced blades of energy similar to the spandex-wearing one and the two of them began to slash at the lancer and Keyblade wielder. As they both kept trying to land a hit on him, the rest of us were too, Ilsa acting as the group's healer since Donald was out.

After a minute has passed since the first blow, our two foes began to teleport around the battlefield, surounding themselves in dark clouds that moved away from us before forming into them again. As always, we all focused our attacks on whichever of the two was within reach and will not compromise anyone else by virtue of friendly fire.

At one point, as I shot away at the spandex-wearing man, which all fell short to the dark barrier he was making, I glanced the hooded man create a ball of energy and hurl it straight for me. By impulse, I turned my shield to defend myself, but then I felt two feet hit me at the side, then push me away. As I landed on the floor, the energy ball expanded and struck the area where I was a second ago.

Once the ball dissipated, I turned to see who had kicked me away and I saw that it was Florina who did it. I then realized that were it not for her, I would've entered a world of hurt from that energy ball. As she turned to see if I was okay, I nodded to her in thanks.

Just then, I saw the spandex-wearing man headed straight for Florina. Before I could warn her, she turned around and parried with the same blade of energy she used to defeat the Behemoth. Next, I was suddenly caught in the hooded man's energy attack, which took the form of a bolt linking the two of us. He eventually let me go, but I felt myself getting drained, and unable to use my spells. All I could see was strange symbols in front of me. They seemed to be directions to move my arm in a certain way.

As the hooded man thankfully turned his attention to Sora, I moved my shield arm one way, but then I felt a surge of pain. _Okay, whatever I did, it was a wrong move. _I then moved my shield arm another way, leaving my front completely open—and whatever was bearing down on me was gone. I quickly cast Curaga on myself, then saw the hooded man headed straight for me, two blades out, and Sora after him.

Just before he reached me, he dispersed into a mass of darkness and went around me—and I felt Sora's Keyblade hit me. "Hey!", I yelped.

"Sorry!", Sora yelped in return, then widened his eyes in shock. "Look out!" I turned around, shield ready, and saw a ring of blue lasers in the air. They then headed straight for me, which I blocked with my shield, protecting myself and Sora. We then chargd forward once more and continued the fight.

Things got intense and hectic from there. Numerous times, I found myself defending from the numerous laser attacks, oftentimes from all directions. I supported the others whenever I could, healing, granting Aerora shields, and casting Shell. I decided not to waste my time casting Slow on them as they seemed to be unaffected. And for some reason, the spandex-wearing man didn't seem to be on the offensive as much as the hooded man.

I had no time to ponder on the why of it as the field was shrouded in darkness, then the hooded man surrounded himself in a barrier similar to the one his energy balls created, then long-range lasers began to fire from him in all directions. As everybody else ran around in an attempt to evade the attack, I made myself as small a target as possible, letting the lasers hit my shield and not me. Rememberinng the last fight Sora and I had with the controlled Windelle and Riku, I cast healing spells on my shield so that it wouldn't disappear.

As I risked a few peeks, I saw the spandex-wearing man had formed a dark barrier around himself, which reflected the lasers in more unpredictable directions, getting worse when Ilsa used her Reflect spell. These lasers hit Gregorio and Yoris like silly, while Florina suffered less hits by strangely sticking as close to the hooded man as possible. As for Sora, he was gliding along the air, successfully evading the attacks.

Soon enough, the assault ended, and the hooded man began to pirouette, spinning like a ballerina, and—with his blades out—becoming a deadly spinning force. As he then spun towards us as we evaded and continued attacking, I saw Florina leap over to attack from above, blade of energy drawn from her RefLuxGun. Before he could land a hit, the spandex-wearing man jumped in to intercept with his own laser blade. As the two the jumped off of each other, the hooded man abanndoned his pirouette maneuver and resumed his usual attacks; shields, energy balls, ring of lasers (which are now red), and that life-sucking attack.

I couldn't remember much of the remainder of the fight. Either that, or they were too redundant to mention, but I do recall that throughout the battle, the spandex-wearing man was more on the defensive. Still, somehow, we managed to defeat them both at the same time. As I shoved the spandex-wearing man away from me with a Shield Boomer, Sora did the same for the hooded man with an Ars Arcanum. They stumbled backwards to each other, the hooded one clutching his chest as he was enveloped in a sphere of his lattice-etched blue energy.

This lattice-etched blue energy usually meant the end of anybody we faced who wasn't a Heartless (I just never got around to mentioning it al this time), but not for this guy; he then pushed the energy away with his hand and it dissipated in a wave of blue and black energy. As for the spandex-wearing man, there was a flash of light as his suit then went away. For a second, I saw him wearing a gray shirt and black pants, but he promptly faded out of view as he surrounded himself in darkness.

The Fighter Limit barrier seemed to have disappeared as heard the footsteps of Donald, Goofy, and Beast as they rejoined us.

"...Truly fascinating.", said the second voice, which I now assumed came from the hooded man. Sora gasped at this. "This is going to be enjoyable."

"What're you talking about?", Sora demanded as he charged towards the hooded man, his Keyblade out. He then leaped Keyblade held high. But at the zenith of his leap, I felt a distortion of sorts as my vision turned black and white for a split second, then I heard a buzzing sound and the hooded man began to half-fade. As for the spandex-wearing man, he was already long gone. Sora landed behind the hooded man, having jumped straight through him. Behind him, the man seemed solid once more as Sora turned to him in annoyance.

"In your present state you probably cannot understand." The hooded man then half-turned, looking down at Sora. "In any case, the time when we can meet again will doubtless come."

"Wait, who are you—!", Sora began to say before cutting himself off with a gasp as the hooded man began to disappear before our eyes.

"I am...", the man answered before disappearing from view completely. "A mere shell." However, while Sora continued to stare at the space where he vanished, I could see a shimmer from where he once was. This shimmer then moved and I realized this was him, and he was walking away. But I did nothing to alert my companions about it, thinking it would be pointless.

We all stood there in silence for a full minute until Yoris spoke up. "Just who were those?"

"Well, whoever they were, Ansem and Stickee are a bigger worry right now.", Gregorio answered with a sigh. "And if what that man said was true, we'll meet again eventually, and we're gonna find answers."

"One villain at a time.", said Florina as the portal leading back opened. "Let's go."

With that, putting the recent inciden behind us, we crossed the portal, which led back to the Castle Chapel. The Princesses of Heart, sans Belle and Kairi, were gathered around, as if expecting us.

"Thank you, Sora.", said Alice. "I think the darkness has begun to weaken."

"But I can feel a powerful darkness growing somewhere far away.", said Jasmine.

"It's the heart of the darkness. It must be where Ansem went." Aurora.

"Then we'll take the gummi ship and deal with both Ansem and the Heartless.", replied Sora.

"A worthy answer, Keyblade master.", said Cinderella. "We offer this power to aid your battle." Gathered together, the five princesses held their hands together and a scroll began to form. When it was completed, I saw that it was a red scroll, and that it was larger than any we've seen before. Sora touched it and it disappeared, and he jerked back his hand as if he just received a severe burn.

"It's the Firaga spell!", Donald realized.

"Sora, your courage can bring back our worlds.", continued Snow White.

"Once the darkness is gone, all should return to its original state.", said Aurora.

"Kairi and our friends will be back on the island?", gasped Yoris.

"Most certainly.", answered Cinderella. "And you should be, too."

"I can't go home 'til I find Riku and the king.", said Sora.

_And will I go home, too?_, I wondered, somehow not being too homesick about it. Perhaps it was all this adventuring, in spite of the many dangers. _And why do I feel I'm missing something? Like there's something I should do before I can go home?_

**Cinderella**

_A hardworking young girl who's often bullied by her stepmother and stepsisters. She is one of the princesses needed to open the final Keyhole, and was captured by the Heartless. Her world has already been destroyed._

_Prince Charming first swept her away in "Cinderella" (1950)._

**Aurora**

_A young woman with a lovely voice. She is loved by three good fairies and cursed by Maleficent. The sorceress captured Aurora to help open the final Keyhole._

_She had her first encounter with Maleficent in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959)._

**Snow White**

_A beautiful princess, gentle and pure as snow. She is one of the princesses needed to open the final Keyhole, and was captured by the Heartless. Her world has already been swallowed by the darkness._

_The fair-skinned princess first appeared in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937)._

**Unknown**

_A mysterious hooded man who appeared at Hollow Bastion._

**Unknown 2**

_A mysterious spandex-wearing man who appeared at Hollow Bastion._

(1) Yes. A Star Shard, as was first seen in _Birth By Sleep_. I had to explain how Florina was traveling across worlds and I didn't want to use a Gummi Ship.

nightelf37: See ya on Third!


	20. Special 4: Five Mighty Threats

Bertie: Hey. Why are we here already?

nightelf37: Well, after I lost the majority of my data on what was supposed to be the Hades Cup chapter, I decided "screw it" and proceed with the last battle in the Cup.

Bertie: Too bad. You wrote some very awesome scenes there. You even made Irvine, Rinoa, and Barret work.

nightelf37: Yeah. Sorry for denying potential fight scenes. But I was devastated from so much lost data and I couldn't bother re-writing it. I only re-wrote the Hollow Bastion chapter because that was a very plot-critical one. Remember, the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there, or the manga, or the movie where the current world is based on (if there even is), I 'own' it. And here is 'my' current Power Orb inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Cure, Esuna, Regen, Haste, Disable, Firaga, Thundaga, Blizzaga, Stopga

(skills) Combo Shots, Taiyou

(summons)

In storage:

(spells) Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Cure, Aero, Gravity, Poison, Silence, Stop, Charm, Confuse, Protect, Shell, Dispel, Fira, Thundara, Blizzara, Cura, Blind, Immobilize, Sleep, Slow, Float, Mini, Petrify, Gravira, Aerora, Stopra, Curaga, Graviga, Aeroga,

(skills) Shield Boomer, Boomer Blast, Sky Dropper, Aura Wave, Yoyo Shot, Aura Wave

(summons) Baloo, Bahamut (with Merlin), XR, Flit, Requiem, Lumiere (not yet 'activated')

Bertie: Oh, by the way. I asked you this last Special. Did you in any way use some concepts from Captain America as a basis of your character?

nightelf37: I already answered your question. I'm not gonna answer again.

Special 4: Five Mighty Threats

Part I. The Hades Cup

As Florina, Gregorio, Yoris, and I stood together as we faced our final opponent in the Hades Cup, I reminisced on recent events prior…

KHKHKHKHKH

_Once we had entered the lobby of Olympus Coliseum, and noticing three other Gummi Ships parked, we saw Phil in a panicked state._

_"Thank goodness you're here, junior heroes!" he called. "You came for the tournament?"_

_"Of course," Sora answered._

_"Why else would we be here now that we sealed the Keyhole?" Gregorio added. This earned him an hit to the gut from Florina's elbow. "Ow."_

_"You know the rules, right? Which tournament do you wanna enter?" From Phil's tone, he seemed to be forced somehow._

_"What's the latest?" I asked. _

_"Thought you'd never ask. It's the Hades Cup."_

_"We're taking that," Sora answered. "Together."_

_"Another thing. We got some new companions with us." Yoris indicated the girls. "Can they participate as well?"_

_"If they're participating with you under the group Lumus Squad, then okay."_

_"Thank you, sir," Florina gave a short bow. "Phil, was it?"_

_"Ya heard right, girl." He then faced Sora and me. "Now this cup ain't like the other cups. There are fourty-nine battles, and given your additional party and how easy you did the Hercules Cup, only four of you can participate at a time."_

_"What?!" Donald gasped in anger._

_"However, every tenth seed, you reach a checkpoint and you're allowed to change 'party members' and resupply. And should you lose the cup, you can try again at any checkpoint you have passed."_

_"That's pertty generous."_

_"It is. You're gonna need it."_

_"Judging by your relief on our arrival, I take it that Hades has something to do with this," I guessed._

_Then, to my mild surprise, Phil seemed to panic. "Yes! Yes he is! Somehow, he's managed to take over the coliseum. And he's gonna kill Herc if he claims victory in the cup!"_

_"We're on it!" said Sora as he summoned his Keyblade, then switched its keychain to the one Kairi gave him, changing its form._

_"I wonder how these tournaments work," Ilsa wondered out loud._

KHKHKHKHKH

I remembered fighting through tons of Heartless, also getting good rewards along the way and clashing with familiar faces.

During the 40th seed, we (Sora, Yoris, Gregorio, and me) fought Irvine, Rinoa, and Yuffie. They were surprisingly tough, especially when the Limit Breaks of the former two kicked in. The sniper had gained quickened reflexes and nigh-omnipresent detection of his surroundings, able to land direct hits on us without looking where he shoots, and looking badass all the while. As for Rinoa, we saw just what our Traverse Town friends meant about her Sorceress powers. She had temporarily gained angel wings, was nearly untouchable, and used powerful spells liberally. It was only thanks to a couple of lucky hits and discovering that my latest Yellow Power Orb allowed me to unleash a powerful beam of Solar energy as I yelled "Taiyou!" that we won the fight.

Florina, Donald, Goofy, and Ilsa did the next ten seeds before the King's men switched out with Sora and Gregorio. I had lent Florina one of my bracers along with some Power Orbs and given her basic instructions on how to use them. For some reason, she didn't perform them as efficiently as I did, but she still did quite well and her aim was certainly better. We also encountered a new Heartless called the Angel Star.

They had delicate, bell-shaped, transparent glass bodies, housing a single filament that resembled the jagged jawlines of other Heartless resting on a tapering blue-colored stand which ended in a spike and was decorated with two pale gold rings. The top of the glass was covered with a blue cap, on top of which was a tear shaped gold topper, which featured three shining bright gold dots towards the bottom resembling eyes, and the top end of it was curled in a manner reminiscent of the hats of many Heartless.

On them were beautiful golden robotic wings, formed from two larger lower wings that have two slightly smaller wings attached to the top of them, the whole assembly kept on with two bright yellow orbs that formed the joints.

"Angel Star," the Diary had said. "Flying Heartless that cast potent spells. They are born of holy spells. They attack from long range with magic. They block physical attacks with their wings, making them difficult to defeat."

We also had a rematch with Cerberus.

During the 20th seed, we (Florina, Sora, Gregorio, and Ilsa) faced off against Leon, Cloud, and Barret. It was an exceptionally difficult battle, especially once Florina was taken out by another of Barret's Limit Breaks, which had him go on a shooting rampage. And after Gregorio went down shortly after taking down the heavyset man, it was only thanks to Ilsa that Sora managed to best both Cloud and Leon.

At the 10th seed however, where Donald, Goofy, and I joined Sora in (along with the nine battles before it), that was when things went wrong. As it was, before we joined him in the fight, Sora had switched his keychain for the black one he found in Hollow Bastion. We also enountered a new Heartless called the Invisible.

They looked like smaller and more embellished versions of the giant Heartless that had destroyed Destiny Islands. They also had sharp purple-and-blue horns that form the outline of a curled heart, small blue bat-like wings on their back, gold-tipped feathered wings on their forearms, and bluish-purple fireballs under their feet, and long scaly tails that ended in a sharp, crescent-shaped blade.

Unlike many Heartless, these bore a scalloped, blue-bladed sword, which appears blunt, but can unleash powerful physical blows. The following symbols were written on the hilt of the blade. 硬核

"Invisible," the Diary had said. "Heartless wielding a large sword. These winged Heartless can move freely through the air. Besides their sword, they attack with their tail and wings. With their high attack power, they often defeat their foes quickly."

It was only during the battle with Hades when we discovered the problem.

KHKHKHKHKH

_Prior to the battle…_

_"Yo, hey, how're you doin', eveybody, yeah," he greeted. "Got a minute. Hades, Lord of the Dead. Nice to see you. Hey guess what? I got a place for you down under!"_

KHKHKHKHKH

_Later during the fight…_

_As we fought against Hades, I could sense something wrong with Sora. He had an odd edge in his voice and seemed to be more aggressive in his attacks, moreso than usual._

_As he fought, I took a look at his Keyblade. It was black and had a longer reach. Also, a chain-like design rans up the length of the blade, there was a dark indigo diamond shape on the hilt, and its handle bore two bat-like wings. When I had managed to glimpse at it from a certain angle, I could see that its teeth were fashioned into a certain symbol. _闇

_From what Ilsa told me later, the symbol was read as "Yami", which stood for 'darkness'. _

_As I struggled to get up after a devastating fire attack from Hades and as Donald and Goofy did the same, I saw Sora come up close to Hades, take a piece of paper from his robes I never noticed before, which I later discovered to be the final page (actually eighth, the first turned out to be the one we collected back in Agrabah) of Ansem's Report, then performed a point blank Blizzaga spell from his hand. This attack knocked Hades down and his fire hair even went out, leaving him 'bald'._

_Unfortunately, when the tournament rules brought us back into shape and the barrier went away for the usual switch, Sora made an evil gleam as his eyes glowed red and he struck Hades again, sending him back to the caged doorway where the Heartless would come from, then turned to attack the rest of us. Fortunately for the audience, a second barrier protected them from harm. Unfortunately for the rest of us, we weren't in its bounds._

_Gregorio, Yoris, and Florina were dodging his every attack and sticking to the sides, hesitant to attack their friend. And when Ilsa came up from behind and got him in a headlock, Sora carried her with ease, much to everybody's surprise, and tossed her right into the the audience barrier, knocking her out cold. He then faced Donald, Goofy, and me._

_"Do you really think you can keep up with me?" he taunted, then pointed his black Keyblade at me. "Especially you? The only reason you're still standing is because you hide behind that pathetic shield of yours!" I winced at this, knowing this to be true. "And most of your power isn't even your own!" That was true too, given the Power Orbs. "I wonder why the Gun of Light even chose you! I bet it isn't even half as powerful as the Keyblade!"_

_"Shut up, Sora, and come back!", Donald interrupted him with a Blizzaga spell, but Sora spun around quickly and knocked away the attack with his Keyblade. Goofy was ten upon him incredibly fast and attacked with his shield, hitting the Key Bearer in the stomach. Sora growled and lashed out, but Goofy blocked the strike. Snapping out of my shock, I went in the fight, knowing Sora will survive whatever I throw at him, and cast Thundaga, blowing him away._

_Sora was clearly angry as he stood, then rushed right for Donald who managed to dodge and move back out of Sora's reach. With a great surge of power, Sora then produced an incredibly large Firaga, hitting the court wizard real hard. Goofy came back in with a spinning attack, but Sora rolled under it, then stuck, only to meet the small parody of the Defender Heartless's shield._

_As I rounded for a side attack, Sora began to push against Goofy but it turned out the knight was physically the stronger of the two and knocked his Keyblade away before plunging the shield into Sora's stomach, pushing him back. Donald followed up with three Firaga spells and Sora was sent to the ground, but not before I shot a Blizzaga at him._

_"How?" Sora asked as he struggle to get up._

_"We're your friends, Sora," Goofy said as he and Donald walked up to him. I was about to do so as well, but for some reason I kept my distance, still getting the nagging feeling something was wrong. "We know everything about you, even how to beat you."_

_"Friends?" Sora looked with a confused face. "No! No friends! Only darkness!"_

_"Sora!" Donald shouted. "Stop doing this! Our journey isn't over yet! We have to defeat Ansem to save everyone! For Riku and Kairi!"_

_"Riku? Kairi?" Sora said weakly. "Donald and Goofy." he also began to name the rest of us as he looked around the field. Then, with a smile on his face, he said, "Thanks for beating the crap out me. Only true friends could do that."_

_"No problem, Sora!" Goofy laughed._

_"Now let's get you patched up," Donald said as he cast Curaga, revitalizing Sora as he sprang back to his feet._

_"Now I really now what friends do for you." _I knew it…_, I thought as the smirk suddenly returned to his face. "They make you weak!" Sora then blasted a powerful burst of magic right into Donald and Goofy's faces, sending them right for where Ilsa lay and knocking them both out. He then made a wicked laugh, then turned to face me with a frown, probably because I had apparently foresaw this._

_Then, before I could aim my DirLuxGun at him, Sora was already on to me, grabbed me by the neck, and lifted me up. "Now, I shall eliminate you, then follow up with everybody else!" I had dismissed my weapons as I grabbed Sora's wrist, trying to get it to let go. "But first, I want to see you suffer, feel what it's like to have your life flash before your eyes. See what being out in the battlefield __**truly **__feels like!" And then, feeling that there was no escaping this, I tilted my head back… and found myself out of his grip as I fell to the ground. _

_Needless to say, I wasn't the only one surprised at this. "What?", Sora gasped. Immediately, I recalled my DirLuxGun, and performed Combo Shots, sending him flying to the other side of the field. As he got up seconds later, I then heard a voice in my head, but it wasn't the one from my dreams, or the one from my shield or DirLuxGun. _

Your friend has been corrupted by the darkness._, the voice advised. It sounded like a young boy's, but it was also filled with wisdom. _Purge it from him using Taiyou. _I didn't know who it was, but I decided to heed the advice and began to charge up. All I could do now was hope his words would prove true or at least knock out Sora so we can bring him back to Traverse Town and see what we can do to fix him._

_Sora began to get up as well, saw me, then charged his own Keyblade as well with power, about to perform the Ragnarok ability. After a few seconds of charging, we both fired, me crying out "Taiyou!" as well. Both magical beam tainted with darkness and beam of pure solar energy met in the center and began to push at each other._

_This struggle continued for half minute as I began to tense up, hoping I could exert more power. After a couple more seconds, I could hear voices._

_"Rael! Stop!"_

_"It's over! You got him!"_

_"Please stop! He can't take any more!"_

_I then felt a hand on my shoulder and I snapped out of my concentration Immediately after, the beam of solar energy ceased and as I looked ahead, I saw Sora slammed into the wall, then fall to the ground, passed out. Immediately, we ran to his aid, me especially even as I felt tired from the last attack._

_"Sora!", I had called out, feeling concerned for him, more so then ever before. As I approached, his Keyblade disappeared in black smoke and violet sparks._

KHKHKHKHKH

In the end, he turned out all right, and it also turned out that my Taiyou purged all the darkness from him and his black Keyblade. It was now safe to use without risk of Sora succumbing to the darkness again. Unfortunately, with Sora extremely tired, and with Donald, Goofy, and Ilsa not in good shape, it was left to me, Florina, Gregorio, and Yoris to finish the cup. As for why the last three didn't help us in subduing Sora, it was because they were very afraid of him and couldn't bring up the will to fight him.

Luckily, in spite of my fatigue, I didn't need to move much for the majority of the battles, even as the Invisibles and Angel Stars came. I needed my strength for the final fight of the cup and now I had it as we faced the Rock Titan.

It was a gigantic, bulky creature that seemed to be composed entirely of rough, uneven stone. Its body was very large and barrel-shaped. Its legs were short and its feet were flat, while its arms were relatively long and ended in four-fingered hands. It had two comparatively small, draconian heads placed side-by-side on the top of its body. Both heads had thick necks, a peculiar lower jaw with four very large, blunt teeth. Its eyes were very small and red, and the inside of both mouths were red as well.

"This is it," Florina said. "Once we're through with him we can finally rest."

"That would be a relief," agreed Yoris. "Fifty fights in a row can get very **very **tedious. Especially when five of them are 'boss fights'."

"Let's get this over already," complained Gregorio. "I can almost feel my body aching."

The Rock Titan started by raising a foot into the ground and slamming it into the ground, generating a shockwave we jumped over. We then proceeded to attack one of its legs as its heads were too high up for any of us to land an accurate hit. Eventually, the Rock Titan's leg gave and he landed on his great stone butt, kicking up dust as we quickly got on and gave it everything we got.

Eventually, he got up on his feet and Florina, Yoris, and I fell off. However, Gregorio managed to stay on and continued slashing and stabbing away at the heads. Florina decided to scale its body to get to the top once again. As for us, we continued shooting away at him, Yoris using ice balls, and we did the occasional attempt to land a headshot.

Surprisingly, in comparison to the previous battle, which had consisted of wave after wave of Darkballs, Angel Stars, and Invisibles, this fight with the Rock Titan was a total breeze, much to my relief. As Gregorio and Florina delivered the final blow together, the Rock Titan gave a loud bellow as it then crashed to the ground one last time and did not get back up. The two then emerged from the dust that came after, giving a wide grin.

Part II. The Phantom

Later at the Gummi Ships…

As we sailed the stars in a random direction in search for Ansem, incidentally en route to Neverland, we checked out the stuff we had received from the cup. Sora and Donald received three scrolls to upgrade to Blizzaga, Thundaga, and Graviga, a shield for Goofy from Yuffie (but he stuck to his current one), a new staff for Donald (but he also stuck to his current one), a letter from Irvine that stated they were headed to Hollow Bastion, a new keychain from Leon, and a scroll that teaches the "Trinity Limit".

Suddenly, there was a ringing tone. We all turned to see that it came from Ilsa, who had already noticed and was pulling back her right sleeve, revealing a device of some sort. As she pushed a button on it, the ringing stopped and an elderly voice came from the device, making me assume it was a communicator of sorts.

"Ilsa!" the voice said.

She seemed to balk at the voice, "Grandma?!"

"Oh it's good to hear from you again! After I heard that you and your team went through that portal, I started to worry!"

"Trust me, I'm fine. I'm with friends."

"Oh, you found them?"

"Not yet." Ilsa turned to look at each of us. "But I believe they'll show me the way. Something about them remind me of my missing teammates."

"Did you receive the message 'they' sent you?"

"I have."

"Okay."

"What message?" Goofy asked.

"I'm not allowed to say," Ilsa told him and us. "Classified information."

"Classified?" Donald wanted to know. "Are you like a secret agent or something?"

The red furry smacked herself in the face. "It's just a way of saying 'can't tell you'. I thought it was a cool thing to say. Now I see it's not."

"Oh."

"Are your friends there with you?" Ilsa's grandma asked.

"Yes." She then quickly changed the subject. "Hold on. How long have I and the others been gone?"

"So long you missed the third Tournament. It was supposed to be the newbie's first appearance to the public. We got magical clones created to cover up for your absence. "

"I see."

"Well, you have no idea how much is being used to reach out to you, so I best hang up. Take care, Ilsa."

"I will." With that, Ilsa turned off her communicator.

Just then, before any of us could ask more on her "grandma", there was a ping of sorts in the Gummi Ship. Gregorio immediately looked at it, then deduced what it was; there was something in Neverland. Speaking of which, we had arrived. As the Excalibur entered, the rest of us in the Destiny went to the Transwarp Room, pinpointed where Sora and co. landed, then teleported there.

Upon emerging, we found ourselves at the Clock Tower, where we had dropped off Wendy the first time we came here. Peter Pan happened to be there as well.

"Hey, guys!" he greeted. "What brings you here?"

We gave him the basic gist of what we were looking for, and he just nodded, also having Sora call out Tinker Bell to sprinkle pixie dust on everybody, though I politely refused. We also introduced the girls to him and vice-versa. Just then…

"Shh." Sora held his hand out. "Did you hear that?"

"Sounded like a groan," Goofy said with his dog hearing. "Someone might be in trouble near here."

"Nobody would be on the clock tower.", Peter replied as he looked around quickly. Just then, another groan filled the air but this one was much louder. A dark shape then flew past him but it went by too quickly for him to make it out.

"Look at that!" Gregorio pointed up and there was a figure that looked like he came from a nightmare with its back turned to us..

It wore a long, tattered, black cloak with long sleeves that gradiated into a light aqua color from the waist down. It had a long, pointed hood and it didn't seem to have a face or body of any kind. Only its clawed, five-fingered hands were visible, but even they seemed to be wrapped in the cloak. The apparent source of its power was a white orb that contained its heart in the lower section of the cloak. Before it turned to face us, I noticed that the Heartless emblem was displayed on its back.

"What is that thing?" Yoris shouted in a shaking voice. A chilling voice that shook all of us to the core replied as yellow eyes appeared where its head would've been.

"I am Phantom," it said slowly in a wheezing voice. Then, it snapped its fingers and that familiar barrier formed around himself, engulfing the entire clock tower and the expanse beyond. It had also managed to take in me, Sora, Yoris, Peter, and Donald, pinning everybody else to a wall. Then, faster than anyone could've though it could move, it burst forward and wrapped its decayed hand around the cannoneer's throat.

"Let him go!" Sora flew at Phantom, who just placed his other hand in his path, unleashing a powerful blast of dark energy that sent the Key Bearer flying back and outside. Luckily, the pixie dust kept him aloft.

"The clock is ticking," Phantom wheezed out. As the number 12 suddenly formed in a white light above Yoris's head, it released him and floated back.

"This isn't good," I said as I took out my hover scooter and got on it and followed, Donald with me.

"I know what you mean." Yoris quickly recovered and began to bombard the Phantom with balls of various elements. Sora soon followed and began attacking in earnest as well. Peter joined in as their weapons skewered though the Phantom's cloak.

Phantom then pushed them away and revealed that there was little else under the cloak. "Numbers on a head is never good news. Who knows what might happen?" Just then, I could hear the clock hands moving and the 12 on Yoris was already a 10. "I think it's a status effect called Doom."

"I know that status effect," Donald said with a shudder. "In causes instant knockout, but instead of being instantaneous, it activates after a set amount of time and is usually accompanied by some sort of indication of the time left. Depending on its power, an Esuna can cure it. Otherwise, ending the battle is the only option."

"Guys! I could use some help here!" Yoris cried out, still firing at the white orb, which was effortlessly bouncing off all his attacks. Also, his number was already at 3.

Quickly, I fired at Phantom, a few of the shots hitting its white orb before it changed to red, at which the shots bounced off like before. And then…

"Time's up.", Phantom said and the number turned to 0. Following was a bright flash. When it faded, Yoris was knocked unconscious, though still floating, and when I went over to him while the rest dealt with Phantom (after they cried out big "No"s, of course), I found out that he was completely unresponsive as well.

As I quickly carried him back, I then saw Gregorio now in the fray. "H-how…" I sputtered as I put down our unconscious companion.

"I think the Fighter Limit barrier no longer counts Yoris as 'in the battle'," Gregorio made an educated guess. He then turned to our unconscious companion, then said, "You will be avenged, I promise."

With that, as he then took off, I turned to the clock, saw it moving and with flames on its numbers as it began to turn in a faster rate than normal, moving its minute hand thrice per two seconds, and burning out any flames it has passed. Unimpeded, it will take forty seconds before someone inflicted with Doom gets taken out.

With that in mind, I cast Stopga on the clock, and the clock ceased moving shortly. "You will not interfere with the master's plan," I heard Phantom say as it reached out for me, but I steered the hover scooter to get out of the way. Following were the others, and I could see Donald had been targeted next, with an 11 on his head. It then, still following me, put both hands above its head a ball of light started to form there. That ball was shot forward and met my shield, thus having little effect.

"Hang in there!" cried out Peter as he caught up, then did a sweeping kick at Phantom's head…to no effect.

Donald then cast a Firaga, which made contact with the orb…and exploded, eliciting a shriek of pain from Phantom. I followed up with another Firaga, getting the same result before the orb then turned blue. Hoping I was right, I then cast Blizzaga, which gave the same result.

"Looks like we got a pattern here!" Gregorio said. "Primary colors mean a basic corresponding spell. White means physical or non-elemental attacks."

Just then, I saw Donald's number go down again, this time a 9. I turned to the clock and saw that it has started again. _Uh-oh. _"Sora! Cast Stop on the clock!" I then cast Esuna on the court wizard just in case, but it proved ineffective. We have to finish the fight quickly in order to save him.

Before the Key Bearer could do just that, Phantom performed a flurry of slashes with its decayed hands like claws, sending him hurtling back and stunned. Peter and Gregorio then swiped at Phantom's "neck" and "stomach"…which were naturally ineffective as its orb was currently blue.

I quickly made to cast Stopga again on the clock, but Phantom then unleashed a great blast of dark energy that knocked all of us back. I dropped my DirLuxGun in the process of holding on to my scooter, but I had managed to change into its hoverboard form so I could remain steady, attaching the shield somewhere in front. Unfortunately, even as I saw Donald fire Blizzaga after Blizzaga, I could tell that it was too late to—

"Time's up," Phantom said and the number turned to 0. Following was a bright flash and when it faded, Donald was out for the count, floating in the air. As I immediately retrieved him, I saw Sora heading back to the fight, clearly angrier than ever. Just before I reached the clock, I saw Goofy fly right for me, went over to his fallen friend, accompanying me as I set the duck down, then went and mourned for him.

As I then turned to the clock and cast Stopga, Florina spoke up from her position, "We've run out of casters so quickly," she said as she shook her head.

"What do you mean?" I asked, guarding the clock and shooting the occasional spell as Goofy then flew off at Phantom in a rage.

"Well, Donald and Yoris are already gone. Now all we have left to shoot Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard attacks are Sora and you. We have to make sure you two stay alive at all costs."

"Yeah. Unless you have some tricks up your sleeve you haven't yet revealed to us just yet. Just like with that blade you unsheathed from your RefLuxGun."

"I think you can do it, too."

"What do you mean?"

Just then, we saw the Phantom head straight for us, his hand reaching out for my neck. He going too fast I was too stunned to react. Before I knew it, Gregorio went in the way and **his **neck was grabbed instead of mine.

"The clock starts again," Phantom whispered in his ear and the number 12 appeared above his head this time.

"Stop this!" Sora shouted up at Phantom and flew to to as fast as he could, only for the Heartless to harmlessly swerve his attack.

Immediately, I recollected myself, turned to the clock, which began to tick, then was about to cast Stopga on the clock again when I suddenly found myself unable to speak or cast. _Damn, I've been Silenced. _

"Master Ansem's instructions," Phantom wheezed out as it repelled the rest. "Make Key Bearer suffer."

I turned to the Ribbon I had tied around my shoulder, wondering why it hadn't protecting me from all status effects like I knew it was supposed to do. Unless this one doesn't…

"I won't let you!" Peter yelled as he closed the distance far faster than usual and started stabbing Phantom's currently-white orb repeatedly.

"Do not interfere." Phantom then seemed to cast another spell as he, Goofy, and Sora were then inflicted with Paralyze.

_Damn, we have no items to cure status effects._, I cursed myself as I recalled my DirLuxGun, aimed at Phantom, and fired, only for the orb to change to yellow, which…surprisingly still dealt damage judging by Phantom's grunts. _Could really use one right now._

Gregorio then rushed in and futilely delivered a series of jabs at Phantom, his number already at 3 and dwindling fast. Just then, I could feel my throat clear itself. Quickly I cast—

"Time's up."

—Stopga, a split second too late. Instantly, the flash came again and Gregorio was now down for the count. As the Paralyze on Sora, Goofy, and Peter were cured by an Esuna from me, the former cast Thundaga, which struck Phantom and changed its orb to white, leaving him open for the latter two. As for me, I retrieved Gregorio, and set him down with the others, seeing Ilsa fly by with one arm outstretched like some familiar comic book character. (1)

"Coming through!" she yelled and the green-clad fighters wisely moved aside as she proceeded to beat the crap out of Phantom, only for it to be immediately mitigated when its orb changed to red and her punches then bounced off.

Phantom then did another slash-combo, knocking her away, then shoved the others away as well as he grabbed Goofy next. "The clock starts again." And a 12 appeared on his head. However, this time, Phantom didn't let go of the knight as he effortlessly dodged our attacks, using Goofy as a shield for the attacks it couldn't. We were so distracted in trying to land a hit on Phantom that we didn't remember to cast Stopga on the clock, although we did manage to land a couple more hits. "Time's up."

As quickly as it had been cast, the Doom spell did its work just as quickly, then Phantom hurled Goofy at me, nearly knocking me off of my hoverboard as I caught him had I not gripped onto it. However, I was then left dangling over the left edge as the hoverboard tried to stay aloft. Thankfully, Peter was there for me and got me back on, then took the unconscious Goofy to lay him down safely.

As I got myself balanced, suddenly not seeing my allies or Phantom anywhere, Florina joined me. "We better hurry before we lose any more to Phantom.", she reminded me.

"Right." Already, Yoris, Donald, Gregorio, and Goofy were eliminated, leaving me, Sora, Peter, Ilsa, and Florina as the only ones left. As we flew around the clock tower, we finally saw them…and Peter Pan **and **Ilsa had a 10 over their heads which quickly turned into a 9. "What?! He can cast Doom on two?!"

"**Stop!**", Sora invoked on the clock, then turned to face Phantom with a Blizzaga spell ready to fire. Unfortunately, his spell was akin to a wide-range shotgun, which did jack in long distances. Fortunately, as Florina and I closed in, I launched a Blizzaga of my own, which slightly homed in like a missile just like Sora's Fire spells.

Peter then started to rush in with his dagger, but unfortunately Phantom's orb was yellow and would effortlessly deflect the attack. Florina tried to fire at the orb after I had told her our shots can hit yellow and white, but her hits didn't change its color to white and the knife hit only to bounce off. The Heartless then whipped its hand and put it over Peter's face.

"Time's up," it said as the clock's arms, breaking out of Stop's effect, started to turn faster and Peter's number quickly descended by 3 with each passing second. Florina and I continued to fire while Ilsa and Sora closed in, but it was too late; Peter Pan was out for the count and Phantom hurled him at Sora, who caught him, then went to where the rest lay. As for Ilsa, she was lucky Phantom's orb was now white.

"You demon!", she cried out as she started to pummel Phantom all the way to one of the clock's faces, crashing to its side. At that time, the minute hand had adjusted itself to count the time **she **had left. Fortunately, the Fighter Limit barrier seemed to protect the tower from suffering property damage. Soon enough, Phantom's orb turned yellow and he then grabbed her neck, stopping her cold to her surprise..

"Ilsa! Tilt your head back!" I called, hoping it would work like it did with me.

She did so…escaped Phantom's grip as her number was now down to a 7, then kicked herself off of it. Before either Sora or I could cast a Stop spell on the clock, Phantom waved one of its hands at us and we found ourselves unable to speak. _Damn, Silenced again!_

Ilsa turned to us while Florina dealt with Phantom, then aimed her hand at us as it glowed white-yellow. "Esuna." Then a beam of that color escaped from her hands and hit both of us, making our bodies glow a pale yellow for an instant before fading away, leaving a faint twinkling of lights behind, leaving us able to speak again. "Thanks, Ilsa."

"Don't thank me ye—" She was cut off as we realized too late that her number has gone down to 0 and the flash came. When it faded, she was down for the count as well.

"***k!", I swore as I mentally smacked myself in the face. "The clock! How could we have forgotten?!"

"Help, please.", we heard Florina's voice. We immediately turned to where she was…and saw Phantom's hand around her neck.

"The clock starts again," it said, then hurled her—with a 12 on her head—straight for us. Sora immediately caught her while I fired at the approaching Phantom, who then entered a flurry of slashes, shoving us back…and away from the clock tower.

"He's keeping us away!", I realized as I kept on the defensive as most of its attacks were on me. "One of us needs to reach the clock!"

"I'll do it!", Florina offered a she tried to go around Phantom..

"You don't have the Stop spell!", Sora countered. "I'll go! Can you two hold him off?"

"No time to ask permission." Florina's number was already at 8. "Go!"

"Haste!", I cast on Sora and he was off like a rocket. At least that was the case had Phantom not grabbed him by the leg and hurled him back at us. Florina caught him and hurled him back to the clock as I cast spells on Phantom as its orb changed colors accordingly.

However, Phantom wasn't about to let his spell be stopped again and kept pulling Sora back, with Florina—her number decreasing by the five-second interval—hurling him back as I kept landing hits, all of us approaching the clock half-meter by half-meter. But I felt that Florina would be going shortly at this rate if we didn't hurry.

Just as her number reached 2 while she hurled Sora again, I decided to cast Disable on Phantom, hoping it would work. To my dismay, it didn't as Phantom grabbed Sora again. At this point, I decided to ram the Heartless on the back, and the impact forced it to let go, letting Sora approach the clock. Unfortunately, he went too fast and slammed onto the clock face-first, knocking him senseless for a long while.

"Not now!", I cursed as I quickly moved away from Phantom and raced for the clock to try and cast Stopga. Just before I could get in range—

"Time's up." I raised my eyebrows in horror and turned to see that we were too late; Florina was out. It was down to Sora and me now. My reaction was instant; I raced all the way back to Florina, bypassing Phantom as I landed a spell on him in anger…which had hit its corresponding color. Just as I picked her up and slung her on my back, Phantom approached me fast and wrapped its hand around my neck. It felt cold. And dead. "The clock begins again."

"Sora!" I cried out, my heart racing. After all, I didn't have much time left, and with impeding death approaching by the second and there was almost nothing I can do to stop it. I attempted to cast a spell, but Phantom's grip became tighter, choking me. As I looked up, I could see my number begin to decrease. 10…9…8… and it seemed to stop there. _Sora made it. But for me._

"Hey! Let him go!" I heard Sora call. As I looked at Phantom, it turned around to see the Key Bearer approaching, though not as fast since the Haste has worn off. The Heartless then blasted me with dark energy, pushing me back and almost making me fall off had I not held on to my hoverboard tight.

As I got myself and the unresponsive Florina back on and balanced, I saw that Sora's Keyblade was now spewing with dark power ("Uh oh," I thought.) as he swung it at Phantom's blue orb…and it sent it reeling back.

"How…Master Ansem never mentioned such power," sputtered Phantom as it backed away from Sora.

With a surge of determination that seemed to well up from inside me, I began to close in on Phantom, DirLuxGun stretched out. In my peripheral vision, I saw a yellow Power Orb appear on one of my bracer's slots, replacing one of my green ones, then saw a shaft of white energy come out of the DirLuxGun's trigger.

Just as I was close enough to swing this new 'blade' at Phantom's now-white orb, Sora had done so as well from the other side and swung his black Keyblade at the orb as well. Our two weapons met at the center as the orb shattered into pieces.

"You're time's up!" I found myself saying as Sora and I withdrew our weapons while Phantom started to back away in the direction of the clock tower, where it then clutched where its orb used to be. A ball of bright light emerged from there, then released a Heart that disappeared into the night sky. Phantom then let out a shriek ten times louder than before as it stretched out its arms before disappearing, leaving a white scroll behind.

As I felt my DirLuxGun go cold as I dismissed it, Sora approached the scroll, touched it, and completely paused for ten seconds before moving again. _The Stopga spell for Sora and Donald. Wait…Donald! _I immediately moved to where our fallen companions lay, with Sora carrying the thankfully still-floating Ilsa.

"Oh no…", Sora whispered as his Keyblade was dismissed. "I can't believe they're gone."

"They can't be…" I whispered as what had happened started to sink in. Just then, I heard a murmur. I turned to Florina on my back, who was starting to stir. A flicker of hope came to me as her eyes fluttered open. "You all right?!" I asked her.

She opened her eyes fully and replied, "Never better."

"What was it like?" I asked as Sora saw the rest stir and regain consciousness as well, with Donald muttering something I didn't quite catch.

"A black abyss. I also saw somebody else. She was in pink and purple, her clothes, her majestic wings, and her hair. And for some reason, she was familiar to me." A name came to mind as an image of her flashed in my head. _Fyora. _But it didn't bear much meaning to me. "I also felt I had wings on my back, that my face was like a bird's, and my hair was longer. And tied up."

"Guess what?" we heard Goofy say as we turned to see him smile. "There is a God!"

"Man, I had the weirdest dream," Gregorio said. "I dreamed that I was a short rodent with a very long and prehensile tail. I was able to balance myself on it too."

"That's nothing," countered Yoris. "I dreamed that I was something short and furry, and worse was that not only had I lacked hands, or any limbs for that matter except for feet, it felt…natural."

Ilsa was looking at them with a thoughtful expression on her face while Peter yawned as if waking from a deep sleep.

"Hey, did we beat him?" he asked Sora.

The Key Bearer nodded. "Uh-huh. He's gone for good."

Part III. The Ice Titan

After we bid farewell to Peter Pan (who gave us a green scroll akin to the Aero ones, which he had found somewhere in Captain Hook's ship), we returned to the Gummi Ships and made our way back to Traverse Town, Chip and Dale informed us of something going on at the Olympus Coliseum. Upon reaching the place and entering the doors after the Excalibur was parked, we saw a towering behemoth of ice ahead as we shortly made it to the lobby, where Phil was waiting.

"Phil!" Sora called. "What happening?"

"Welcome back, junior heroes!" he called. "You came for the tournament?"

"Stop with that response," snarked Gregorio. "Of course we came for the tournament."

"You know the rules, right? We now have the Gold Match up. Unfortunately, only up to four can enter."

"We'll enter that, I guess," answered Sora. "I'm taking Rael, Yoris, and Donald with me."

"By the way, is that big thing out of ice what we're gonna fight?" inquired the cannoneer.

"Yes. It's the Ice Titan," Phil said. "Hades must've sent it."

KHKHKHKHKH

The four of us stood side-by-side as we faced the Ice Titan. It was a gigantic, emaciated, humanoid being that was, naturally, composed entirely of ice. It had fairly long arms that ended in clawed, four-fingered hands, an icy ribcage that was always visible, tall spikes lining its upper back, a proportionately smaller head, a blocky mouth filled with sharp teeth, small and barely visible eyes, a spiky crest decorating the back of its head and cheeks, very thin upper legs, and thick lower legs frozen to the ground.

"Now I see why.", I said as I summoned my DirLuxGun, fully recharged. "We all have fire attacks, and ice is naturally weak to it." I received a nod from Sora.

The Ice Titan started by launching a large piece of ice at us, which we easily dodged. It followed through by firing a volley of ice shards, which Sora deflected right back and I defended while Yoris shot fireballs, Donald supporting him with Firaga spells. On occasion, it summoned ice shards from the ground forcing us to scatter. After a while though, it fell to its knees. Sora took this chance to try out a new application of his Ragnarok attack. He jumped and delivered an air combo, then aimed his Keyblade at the Ice Titan while floating, and it began to glow in the same way it does when about to seal a Keyhole. This time however, a ball of circling energy beams that began to expand before being unleashed right at the giant's head in the form of homing beams.

Shortly after, the Ice Titan got up, expelling a flurry of ice shards, then leaned down and opened its mouth, blowing out the coldest cold we had ever felt before. It was shivering even for my standards and we all save for Donald—whose feathers protected him from the cold—shook. It took advantage of this and unleashed another flurry of ice chunks knocking us into the wall. Donald escaped this by casting a Fira spell.

As I forced myself up, I saw Sora rushing forward, spinning his Keyblade like crazy to deflect the ice shards back to the Ice Titan, who retaliated by rearing a fist and then striking the ground. Sora evaded this by jumping and landing on the Titan's hand as it then rose. Meanwhile, the ice fist had frozen the entire floow and made patches of slick ice. Yoris was the first to trip and I was next, followed by Donald, who quickly tried to rectify this with a Fire spell. It succeeded and he got to work on getting us up as well.

Meanwhile, Sora was on the Ice Titan's shoulder, smacking its head with the Keyblade and somehow kept his footing while he was at it. However, that didn't last long as the Ice Titan shook him off and down to the ground. Below, Yoris ran between the Titan's legs and shot fireballs as he ran. The Ice Titan brought its foot up and brought it back down to crush Yoris, who was just able to roll out of the way.

The Ice Titan's next move was to summon ice shards from the ground, which we had some trouble dodging, and conjuring ice balls from above, which were easier to evade. The Ice Titan followed up with an ice breath, which inflicted all of us with the Freeze status effect. It was obviously very cold, moreso than the Blizzard spells. Despite being encased, I found that I could still move, though just barely. And I was able to move a bit more the more I moved. Eventually, the ice suddenly smashed around me and I was free, though tired since I wasn't as fit as the others; even Donald could catch his breath faster than I.

I then unleashed a flurry of Firaga spells at the Ice Titan and the others (freeing them) as I drew back, only to suddenly slip on ice and land on my butt. It was obviously cold and I yelped. I then got a load of ice shards headed in my direction. I brought up by shield and the shards hit it, the force of the impact sliding me across the ice patch I slipped on until I reached dry ground. As the Ice Titan then focused its attention on the others, I got up, still wincing from the freezing feeling on my behind, then returned fire with the rest.

The fight became a bit tedious after that (and chilling as a refrigerator); evade ice attacks, Sora reflected them back at the Ice Titan, who soon crashed to the ground for him to whack away, rinse and repeat. The final blow consisted of a four-way fireball attack, three of them Firaga spells. When they connected, the Ice Titan began to emit a large amount of steam from its body, obscuring itself and us from view.

When it cleared, as we walked closer with caution, we saw the Ice Titan, though it wasn't much of a Titan anymore. If anything, it didn't even reach Sora's knee. As it fled to the gates where the Heartless usually came, we performed our victory poses and gave sighs of relief.

Part IV. Kurt Zisa

Current Power Orb Inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Esuna, Regen, Haste, Cura, Firaga, Thundaga, Blizzaga

(skills) Boomer Blast, Combo Shots, Taiyou

(summons) Requiem, Lumiere (not yet 'activated')

In storage:

(spells) Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Cure, Aero, Gravity, Poison, Silence, Stop, Charm, Confuse, Protect, Shell, Dispel, Fira, Thundara, Blizzara, Blind, Immobilize, Sleep, Slow, Float, Mini, Petrify, Gravira, Aerora, Stopra, Curaga, Graviga, Aeroga, Stopga

(skills) Shield Boomer, Sky Dropper, Aura Wave, Yoyo Shot, Aura Wave, Solar Saber (new)

(summons) Baloo, Bahamut (with Merlin), XR, Flit

Later at the Gummi Ships…

As we sailed the stars in another random direction (and forgetting we were going to stop by Traverse Town), incidentally en route to Agrabah, we checked our reward from the match. Sora was checking out his new Keyblade.

Thanks to the keychain we acquired, it now looked like it were made of ice, and both the teeth of the blade and the keychain's token were snowflakes. It bore some resemblance to the form it assumed when Kairi's charm was attached. The chain part of the keychain was attached to the Keyblade by a gold ring and was made up of gold links, except for the first link, which was shaped like the Ice Titan's head.

A second later however, he decided to change it back to its black form, then to the light form it assumed when Kairi's charm was attached.

Just then, there was a ping of sorts in the Gummi Ship. Gregorio immediately looked at it, then deduced what it was; there was something in Agrabah. From the looks of it, it was the same signal it emitted when it located the Phantom. Just then, we had arrived. As the Excalibur entered, the rest of us in the Destiny went to the Transwarp Room, pinpointed where Sora and co. landed, then teleported there.

Upon emerging, we found ourselves at Aladdin's house, where he happened to be right now. Needless to say, he was a bit surprised when we appeared. "Hey, Sora!"

"Al!", the Key Bearer greeted. The rest of us followed suit and we introduced the girls to Al, and he was introduced to them. After that, we then inquired our native friend if there was anything strange going on in the town or in the desert en route to the Cave of Wonders.

"As a matter of fact, there is. I saw a very large Heartless somewhere in the desert. I'll show you the way." He gave a whistle and Carpet flew in.

KHKHKHKHKH

Soon, we were flying across the desert on Carpet and my scooter in hoverboard form. As we searched for anything out of the ordinary, there was an eruption of sand in front of us. A large spinning figure had emerged, then landed, revealing itself to be bipedal. As we quickly swerved around it, it then brought up swords we quickly dodged. As we fled however, we suddenly saw pillars appear out of nowhere and barriers form between them. We immediately collided with the barrier and were thrown to the ground. I managed to keep hold of my scooter as it reverted it into its compact form and returned it to my bag as we all got up, then turned to catch sight of what came up from the sand.

It was a six-armed beast, boasting a brown and black segmented body and a golden head resembling the cobra head on Jafar's staff. It wore a white sleeve trimmed in gold on each arm, a white tunic with puffy gold sleeves over its oddly-shaped upper torso, and white, gold-and-turquoise trimmed pants on its lower body. Around its waist was a brightly colored sash in turquoise, decorated with bright orange tassels and a gold apron bearing the Heartless Emblem. Its feet were clad in gold and brown shoes at first glance, and its toes were curled into fierce hooks that pointed down towards the ground. Each arm ended in three sharp segmented talons. Two of these arms held what Aladdin identified as khopeshes, two large sharp silver crescents that ended in gold-trimmed holes on one end and lethal hooks on the other. As it moved its limbs, I could hear them move as if they were robotic.

"Greetings, Key Bearer and friends.", the Heartless said in a snake-like voice, hissing its "s"'s. "My name is Kurt Zisa, and Master Ansem has ordered your destruction!"

"Of course he has.", Sora sighed as we all armed ourselves for battle. Carpet was given orders to stick at a corner and stay away from the battle. Just then, Kurt's two middle arms started glowing and two orbs of energy started to appear in its hands and mysterious symbols emerged in a ring around each of us. On a hunch, I raised my bracer and summoned Requiem. When the converted Heartless appeared, it proceeded to do its work. Sora was a bit confused from this as the symbols then turned into upside-down pyramids.

He seemed to get the idea though and proceeded to presumably summon Tinker Bell. However, nothing seemed to happen. "What?!", he gasped. Donald tried to cast a spell, but it was no good either.

Kurt gave a tough laugh. "Give up, fool. As long as I hold these two orbs, you can't use any magic at all!"

"Thanks for the tip!", said Yoris as he aimed his cannon and launched a flurry of ice balls. However, Kurt spun its swords and successfully stopped the attack. It then rushed forward, forcing us to jump out of the way. However, Donald and Ilsa ended up on its shoulders. The latter began to punch at the shoulder while the former did a feeble attempt with his staff.

"How were you able to summon when I can't?", asked Sora.

"I think I managed to do so before the 'Silence' kicked in.", I replied.

Goofy ran forward and went to ram his shield into Kurt, but it crossed its four arms over its chest and formed a shield that Goofy bounced off of. Aladdin ran forward and blocked a strike from the top arm, deflected a strike from the bottom one, and then flipped sideways to avoid a third. Gregorio mirrored his moves and they eventually found an opening in the form of Kurt's torso. They both jammed their weapons at it, but it proved too hard to penetrate and they quickly back-flipped away and out of danger. All the while, Florina and I shot at the orbs, missing a few times because of Kurt's quick movements.

Sora took a turn and ran at Kurt Zisa. At the last minute, he jumped as high as he could and vaulted over its head, landing behind it. As Kurt was turning around, Sora brought his Keyblade down and slashed straight through the orb on the left, destroying it.

"You'll pay for that!" Kurt yelled as a scimitar replaced the orb and it slashed at Sora. Doing this, it had turned its back on the others just long enough for Florina to land an expert shot on the other orb, destroying it as well.

With the anti-magic orbs gone, Donald cast Curaga on Sora and jumped off of Kurt, who stumbled from the loss of its orbs and landed on its butt, its head lengthening as it found itself surrounded on each side. The first thing Kurt did was flail its neck at Ilsa, knocking her off of it. The rest of us got to work on hitting Kurt's head. It was fairly hard to hit it as it continued to flail wildly, hitting anybody who was too close. Even Florina was having a hard time marking a hit.

Eventually, Kurt withdrew its neck and, after rumbling for a short while, jumped to its feet once more, then floated a few inches of the sand, a pink sphere surrounding it. It dismissed all of its scimitars save the ones on its upper arms and crossed those over its head. As for the other arms, they started waving about as if forming a circle. Goofy ran forward and drew his shield back before smashing it into the sphere, but he was thrown back as some kind of blast came from it as well as some clear orbs that I knew were for restoring magic.

"Nothing can penetrate my shield!" Kurt Zisa laughed as it conjured fireballs. They were moving slow, but I could tell they were potentially lethal.

"That's an attack?" Sora almost laughed. "That's way too slow to hit us!" He then ran for Kurt for a reason I couldn't understand.

"Sora, get away!" Ilsa warned, but was ignored. However, she did get the others to do so. Just as the Key Bearer was closest to a fireball, it exploded with great force and Sora was thrown through the air and slammed down hard into the ground, bouncing a few times. The remaining fireballs exploded, but Ilsa's warning minimized the damage on us.

As Kurt continued to move, Florina and I fired at the sphere, but to no effect. Yoris then launched an ice ball…and the shield flickered as signs of a crack appeared. Donald cast Firaga to the same effect. "Magic!" Donald told us. With that in mind, Sora cast Thundaga, Goofy and Gregorio used Ethers on us, and Ilsa kept us healed, leaving Aladdin and Florina to stand by for the moment. She had since returned my bracer to me and did not wish to use them because she claimed I needed them more than she did.

In the middle of the assault though, Kurt manifested six tornadoes around Sora, which closed in on him and caught him and anyone else in the way; that being Gregorio, Donald, and the girls. Once they were released from its force, Kurt summoned more fireballs below where they would land. All of them but one exploded, sending them all through the air once again. Sora and Donald slammed hard into the sand and were knocked out, while Gregorio and Florina managed to land on their feet, albeit clumsily. As for Ilsa, she landed on the sand face first, but remained conscious. As she pushed push herself back on her feet, she (as well as the rest of us) saw the one fireball that didn't explode go right into Kurt's shield.

"Al! Goofy!" Yoris cried out as he launched thunder balls. "Get Sora and Donald out of here!"

The two of them immediately complied while the rest of us continued our assault on Kurt, evading its attacks as we went and attacked with spells. Eventually, with a combined thunder-charged attack from me and Yoris, the force field shattered and Kurt fell on its butt once more. Ilsa, Florina, Yoris, Gregorio, and I charged, attacking its head. Ilsa hoisted the lancer up and he jumped straight for Kurt's head, driving his javelin deep. At least he tried to, as his weapon wasn't strong enough to pierce the Heartless's head.

Eventually, like before, Kurt withdrew its neck and, after rumbling for a short while, jumped to its feet once more, then its two middle arms started glowing again and two orbs of energy started to appear in its hands as its scimitars on them disappeared and symbols emerged in a ring around each of us. It was the anti-magic orbs again. Immediately, before its effect can take place, I cast Regen on everybody. Once the effect set in, Aladdin and Goofy had returned.

Kurt Zisa repelled us with some sword spins, then leaped for the center of the 'arena', still thankfully away from the unconscious Sora and Donald. We immediately pursued it as it then jumped around to face us. As Florina and I fired at the orbs, Kurt then leaped up once more, but this time it rapidly spun, flattening itself into a disk with its arms sticking out and its scimitars acting like a cross between helicopter blades and a buzz saw.

"You will not defeat me!" Kurt yelled in fury as it started dive-bombing towards us and we did our best to evade these attacks, even as it sometimes changed from spinning like helicopter rotors to a pizza cutter wheel. I blamed my hunger for thinking of that.

One time, during its vertical spins, I found myself unable to jump away from its attack in time and brought my shield in front of myself. I was protected from the blades, but the force of them shoved me into the sand, partially burying me in it as it passed over. Once it was done, Ilsa pulled me out as I coughed from the sand that had entered my mouth and pushed out more that had entered my ears. Suddenly, she pushed me down again, then cast Reflect on herself. It turned out to be a good thing as Kurt had come around again with a vertical spin slash. It passed over me and drove the Ixi back. Florina, Aladdin, Goofy, Yoris, and Gregorio bypassed me as well, the last stopping to help me up.

"Thanks."

"You got a Gravity spell equipped?" the lancer asked me. "We need to get Kurt to stay on the ground."

"Sorry, but no."

"Darn. Can you switch to them?"

"Not right here. For unexplained reasons, my haversack is sealed up in these areas."

"**Graviga!**" two voices came.

We immediately turned to see Sora and Donald back up and standing, Keyblade and staff upward. Kurt was caught in the purple vortex and crashed into the ground, kicking up sand in its resulting crater. When it cleared, it was on its butt once again, and its head was stretched out.

Seeing my chance, we all approached Kurt, I aimed my DirLuxGun at its head and charged up energy. A few seconds later, as it struggled to get up on its feet, I cried out, "Taiyou!" A strong beam of light surged through and struck home, and creating a hole through its head. At the same time, Sora's Keyblade went through it in the form of a Strike Raid.

Kut Zisa began to stumble about as it lumbered straight for me. As everybody scrambled, I reached for my haversack, hoping its pockets were open. Thankfully, it now was and I took out my hover scooter, boarded it, and fled. I felt Kurt's hands crash behind me, and then finally its head, which kicked up a wave of sand that caught up with my legs.

Once I was absolutely sure, Kurt was finally down, I slowed to a stop, then turned around. As the others also surrounded it, we saw a Heart exit it, just like every large Heartless we have fought, then its body vanished, leaving no evidence of its presence save for some traces in the sand, which would eventually vanish with the wind. However, there was a sheet of paper that then flew straight to my face. I took it out, and saw that it was yet another page of the Ansem Report.

"Another page?" I thought out loud, "Didn't we get them all?"

"I found another after we fought those guys in black," Ilsa called. "You know, the ones with the red energy swords."

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Sora.

"You never asked."

"Oh."

Part V. Sephiroth

After we bid farewell to Aladdin, we returned to the Gummi Ships. The moment we did however, Chip and Dale had a message for up; something was going on at the Olympus Coliseum. Again. Upon reaching the place and entering the doors after the Excalibur was parked, we saw some sort of force field encompassing the area just beyond the gates. We were able to pass through it just fine, but when we tried getting out, we couldn't.

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Ilsa.

We shortly made it to the lobby, where Phil was waiting.

"Phil!", Sora called. "What happening?"

"It's the champion of the Platinum Match. He put up this barrier you must've passed through. It's one-way."

"Who is this champion?"

"He says his name is Sephiroth." My blood instantly ran cold upon hearing the name, and I remembered why, but I remembered not to tell. "And he's heard about you Sora. He wanted a one-on-one match."

"Why me?"

"He wouldn't say. Although he says he's feeling merciful today and will allow one ally. But just one. Or else…"

Sora put a hand to his chin and was now deep in thought. "Hmm… Only one…"

"I gotta warn ya.", said Phil. "Sephiroth is a mighty powerful swordsman, and he's very fast. He uses a sword called Masamune, which is longer than he is, yet he has shown exceptional skill with it. Cloud and Leon are nothing compared to him as far as I can see."

"He's that powerful?" gasped Goofy.

"Uh-huh."

Just then, Sora turned to face me, and I knew what he intended to do.

KHKHKHKHKH

Sora stood tall with pride as he walked toward the arena. I had been picked to accompany him. I didn't want to, but he was insistent. Nobody else seemed to help me not get picked. Even Donald didn't seem furious over not getting picked, which I found strange, though I decided to dwell on it later. Since summons were not allowed, I switched out my summons for Solar Saber and Protect.

As Sora and I entered the arena, we couuld see a few dead trees in place of the columns that marked the corners of the battle area. We then heard a sound from above and we looked up to see something form. It was a magic circle of sorts and it spawned four more beneath it, three of them in a triangle formation and the fourth in the center. These four then converged their energy into a beam and it shot down right in front of us, forming a small dome of energy before dissipating, revealing somebody kneeling on the floor.

With his back to us, this man slowly stood up, unfurled his large, navy blue wing on his right shoulder, outstretched his right hand, then turned to confront us before extending his left hand to us and laying it on the hilt of his sword; Masamune. He was as I suspected he would look like; distinctive long, silver hair with long bangs that framed his face, and dresses in a black leather coat. The coat had a large collar reaching his ears even when folded back, had red-violet lining in the front, and was kept closed by a black belt with a silver buckle around his waist. The sleeves of his coat ended in metal rings in place of normal cuffs, and he wore black leather gloves.

However, his face very much like Cloud's, his regular blue eyes, and that threw me off (if I wasn't about to wet my pants from the very fact that I was looking at Sephiroth personally); I expected cat-like green ones. And for some reason, there was an odd, black-and-red, fin-like growth on his right forearm.

Sephiroth's chest was exposed, showing that he wore some sort of grey strap around his abdomen with two black belts over it, as well as two brown, overall-esque straps that intersected over his chest. He wore black pants and knee-high boots of the same color, with two grey belts wrapped around each boot. He wore a silver pauldron over each shoulder.

"It is time, Key Bearer." Sephiroth said quietly with a grin. Sora and I responded by summoning our weapons.

We then heard chanting, and the chant was very familiar. I glanced at the stands, and was unnerved from what I saw; the audience seemed to be under some sort of spell, their eyes glazed over. I couldn't tell if our friends were under its effects as well. _Oh no. I wonder where Cloud is…_

Sora was the first to attack. He raised the Keyblade, ran forward, and swiped at Sephiroth. However, he blocked the strike with his ridiculously long sword. but faster than he could have imagined Sephiroth had his Masamune out and his strike was blocked. Sora brought his Keyblade around in a horizontal arc, but Sephiroth blocked once again.

Quicker than lightning, Sephiroth lunged forward and poked his sword nto Sora's stomach, sending him to the ground in pain. If it weren't for the Barrier Jacket, the Masamune would've punctured the skin. It still hurt though as Sora cast Cure on himself. I saw Sephiroth headed for him, but I managed to reach him first and intercepted his side sweep with my shield. However, I didn't count on its power, which sent me flying back. As I stumbled to keep my footing as I was pushed from the force of the attack, Sora managed to get up and attempted to strike, taking advantage of how close he was to Sephiroth. However, the swordsman did another swing and managed to push Sora right to where I was.

"I still think you should've chosen Ilsa," I said to him as he held up the Keyblade.

Sora said nothing as we got ourselves back on our feet. Sephiroth held his blade at his side and began a painfully agonizingly slow walk toward us as we dropped into defensive positions.

Sora dropped into a defensive stance and watched for any sudden movement. Sephiroth swung the Masamune and because of its long reach, Sora couldn't strike back. But while I could, his strikes were going too fast. Despite that, I managed to land one hit before backing off again, which gave enough time for Sora to drop and roll forward.

As he brought his Keyblade back to get a slash into Sephiroth's side, the expert swordsman quickly raised his left hand and a great pillar of flame burst up from the ground. Sora cried out in pain from the intense heat. As he tried and failed to escape the attack, I fired at Sephiroth, who seemed to experly deflect my attacks with his sword. The flame soon disappeared and Sora hit the ground.

"I figured there would be more of a challenge than this, Keybearer," Sephiroth said as he leaned down on one knee, deflecting my attacks all the while. Sora struck incredibly quickly, enough to catch Sephiroth off guard and cut through his side.

"How about that?" Sora asked as he used Curaga.

"You will soon be feeling sorry you didn't stay down," Sephiroth growled and cured himself as well. I had stopped attacking after realizing it was pointless at the moment. The sky was dark and so my DirLuxGun's battery is limited.

"Then I'll need defense." Sora smiled and powered up his spell. "Aeroga!" he shouted and the shield of wind came to life around him. I poised to follow suit before remembering that I did not have the spell equipped. I instead cast Protect on both of us.

"Interesting," Sephiroth said as he took the glove off his left hand and placed his hand through the shield, making several deep cuts appear all over it. He healed it before slipping his glove back on. "Sharp wind."

As I performed Boomer Blast, Sora followed up with an Ars Arcanum. His arms became a blur but Sephiroth had the Masamune up and he blocked every single strike, as well as the boomerang-like beam that came and went from every angle.

"Impossible!" Sora gasped as the attack died down.

"You shouldn't have picked me," I said.

"Prepare for defeat, Keybearer!" Sephiroth shouted as he lifted both hands high, summoning several meteors appear out of thin air. Sora and I stood back and awaited any kind of move Sephiroth would make. The meteors suddenly flew forward and straight at us. Sora only managed to dodge two before the others crashed into him with fierce power. As for me, I had braced myself behind my shield, which took most of the hits. I remembered to keep healing it up so it would not disappear on me.

When the onslaught ended, I managed to glimpse Sora get up and perform Strike Raid, launching his Keyblade toward Sephiroth…who deflected it with the Masamune. _Dammit! Why did we need to face Sephiroth of all people?! We're not ready for this! _But then another thought came to me. _Wait. What if Ansem is just as strong? Or if Seph is stronger. That means if Sora and I can't beat this guy alone, we have no chance of saving the worlds from the Heartless!_

"You're just prolonging your defeat," our opponent said quietly.

Sora ignored his words and stood on his now wobbling legs. "I will not be defeated by you," he replied, his voice even quieter than Sephiroth, but I could discern an unmistakable edge there as I got on my feet as well.

"We shall see." Sephiroth started for Sora again but instead of a slow walk, this time he sprinted forward.

Sora then performed an ability I remembered seeing from Cloud back during the Hades Cup; the one he called Sonic Blade. The Keybearer charged up some energy before thrusting himself forward with untold speed. The attack was sadly parried, but Sora was quickly onto Sephiroth again. This time, the attack hit, and he continued this for up to six more times and each of them save the last was parried.

At the last hit, Sephiroth vanished into thin air. We knew he wasn't finished because the arena stayed the same. Sora got up from his attack and we both looked around for any trace of the insanely powerful man. Before I knew it, I felt something sharp strike me in the back. Instead of it entering my skin and piercing through my body however, I found myself being shoved so hard I was sent flying before face-planting into the ground and getting some dirt in my mouth as the leftover force dragged me along it.

Sora gasped and as I got up and turned and spat out the dirt, it turned out that Sephiroth had appeared behind where I was moments ago. He seemed to be confused for a bit, as if wondering why I hadn't been impaled. He was quick at getting over it though as he charged straight for me and delivered a flurry of stabs so fast I could only defend and fall back. While he did this, Sora ran up to Sephiroth and brought his Keyblade down only to be blocked by the master swordsman. Thankfully, this turnes his attention away from me as I healed up my shield.

Sephiroth then teleported in a flash of black feathers and into the center of the arena. He raised his hand and dark energy began to form on the ground around him. It then dissipated, leaving him glowing in a white aura. He followed this up with a dozen dark orbs. Sora charged right for them, but before he could approach one, I shot it and they all exploded, getting him away from the blast as the area grew darker.

As the two of us pulled back, Sephiroth's body crackled with red energy and several strange rocks descended into the field, which then surrounded and orbited him. I shot away at Sephiroth while doing by best to evade the rocks, which Sora also did. A few seconds after, a black hole appeared above his head and absorbed all the rocks, which later released a meteor right for Sora. He was able to dodge it in time as it exploded, but just barely.

"You should have died where you lay, stupid boy," Sephiroth said with a slight growl behind it. "Then I wouldn't have done this to you." Red energy began to surround him.

"I won't let you!" Sora rushed forward and swung the Keyblade at Sephiroth, but a fierce wind picked up and it was strong enough to blow him away. Then, a red halo appeared over our heads.

"Descend, Heartless Angel!" Sephiroth shouted in a fierce and chilling voice and it happened. Sora and I stopped in our tracks and red energy swirled around us. The attack connected and I was struck with nerve-wracking pain so intense I screamed so loud I probably snapped a few of the audience out of their trance.

As I dropped to the ground, I managed to see my shield vanish, just like during our fight with the Ansem-possessed Riku and Stickee-possessed Windelle. _Dammit. _As I turned my head to the side, I could see Sephiroth slowly walk up to Sora, who was in no better shape than I was.

I could also see a Megalixir roll onto my shield hand. With what energy I could spare, I brought it close to me and bit on its cap in an attempt to remove it and activate its power. In my current state, even that was difficult to do.

"Let me ease your pain," I managed to hear Sephiroth say. He was about to deliver the coup de grâce to Sora. With renewed vigor, I pulled harder…and managed to pop the cap off. The Megalixir's magic did its work on me and Sora and we were quickly rejuvenated. The bottle disappeared soon after.

As I got up on my feet, however clumsily, Sephiroth brought the Masamune down, but the Keyblade was up faster than he could have imagined and the attack was blocked.

"Impossible!" Sephiroth screamed as Sora got to his feet and stared at him with the Keyblade shining with energy. The Keybearer then began to slash at Sephiroth with such speed he couldn't get a chance to counterattack. I managed to count up to fourteen before Sora leaped into the air, his Keyblade charging with power, before slamming it down, resulting in an explosion.

_That can't be…was that the Omnislash?_

Sephiroth took a couple of steps back, his right hand clutching his stomach, his Masamune mysteriously gone, and nearly kneeling as I managed to get up completely. To my surprise, Sephiroth managed to get up and take to the air on his one wing. "Not bad," he said. He then waved a hand and the entire crowd stopped chanting. "There may be hope for you just yet." He then outstretched his entire body and a light began to flash from his center, glowing brighter until in completely engulfed him and he disappeared. A sheet of paper then fell to the ground, accompanied by what looked like a keychain, which looked like a black wing. Also, instead of some sort of chain, there was a red cord.

Sora turned to me and said, "Thanks, Rael."

"You're welcome," I replied as I walked toward the items, then bent down and picked them up. "I still think Ilsa would've been a better choice. Although I suspect Sephiroth had been holding back."

"How do you know?"

"I don't." I then handed him the items. "Here. Sephiroth dropped these."

"Yet another page?"

"I know, right." Sora pocketed the page, then replaced his keychain with the new one and the Keyblade changed form.

In its new state, it resembled Sephiroth's Masamune, although its handle and blade differedn keeping with the apparent design of a Keyblade. The teeth of the blade resembled a flaming Meteor. Sora did a few swings and the Keyblade was engulfed in flames whenever he did so, disappearing when the weapon was still. For some reason, it did not burn.

Sora didn't seem to like it however and switched it back to its previous form.

Gummi Ship Time: Chosen One Returns

We made our way back to our Gummi Ships. While Sora, Donald, and Goofy went to the Excalibur, the rest of us teleported into the Destiny. However, as we made out way to the cockpit, we found somebody already there.

"Chosen One?" gasped Gregorio and Yoris.

"Hello," he greeted. Next to him was a satchel filled with items. "Since you have apparently found the parts I need, you are relieved from my service. However, I shall still tag along for a while. Now buckle up. We got places to go."

A few moments later, we were sailing off once more, following the Excalibur. As we flew, Chosen One contacted it.

"Sora," he called.

"Chosen One?" he, Donald, and Goofy gasped.

"Yes."

"Might I ask where you're headed?"

"We were headed back to Traverse Town to resupply."

"Sounds like a plan. After that?"

"We're still on the search for Ansem. But we don't know where to find him. The Navi-G's not giving us much help."

"Allow me to fix that. But only after Traverse Town."

"All right."

"Another thing, Sora. Everyone."

"What?" we all asked.

"This may sound negative, but this is a very important warrior's philosophy." He leaned forward. You will **never **be the strongest. There will **always **be someone stronger. Even when you think you have surpassed everyone, there **will **be someone who will rise to the challenge. Never for a second believe you are the strongest, for **if **you do, you will end up slacking and grow weak. Do you understand what I mean to say?"

"I guess." Sora.

"I do." Me.

"Wanting is better than having." Gregorio.

"Victory can be boring if victory is all you strive for." Ilsa.

"It's the journey that counts." Donald.

"Good." Chosen One nodded. "Now let's get you ready for one last rumble!" With that, he had the Destiny accelerate and bypass the Excalibur, which picked up speed and caught up with them half a minute later.

**Lythos, Rock Titan**

_Immortal giant in the form of a stone crag. He has two heads, but can only think with one at a time. Defeated once by Hercules, he's now on the loose again, courtesy of Hades._

_He shook the scene in "Hercules" (1997)._

**Phantom**

_Ghostlike Heartless who haunted the clock tower standing far away from Neverland. Fluttering his eerie cloak, he cast a spell to take Sora's heart. Having no physical body, regular attacks were useless, but in the end Sora and company discovered his weakness and prevailed._

**Hydros, Ice Titan**

_Defeated once by Hercules, he received new powers from Hades and resurfaced. His body is made of large blocks of seemingly impregnable ice. But the ice shaping his face is quite fragile. Naturally, he is weak against fire._

_He shook the scene in "Hercules" (1997)._

**Kurt Zisa**

_Heartless who emerged from the Keyhole opened by the princesses. He swung his six powerful arms to attack Sora and company and block their attacks. But Sora sought out his weakness and emerged the victor._

**Sephiroth**

_Once known as the greatest of swordsmen, his whereabouts have been unknown for some time. He challenged Sora to a two-on-one battle, though mostly focused on Sora than Rael. No one knows why he has suddenly returned. Apparently, he and Cloud have crossed paths before._

_"Final Fantasy VII"_

(1) It's a bird! It's a plane! It's…you know the rest.

nightelf37: Sorry I was gone for so long, not that anybody would care. SC:FiM and all that. As for Ilsa's grandmother, I wanted to reference the newest member of Team Meridell in the Altador Cup in some fashion, even though that also retconned Ilsa to being male (I like her as a girl). See ya on Third!


	21. Chapter 16A: End of the World

nightelf37: To Gry17, to be honest, I created the Gun of Light in the first place just to be some sort of counterpart to the Keyblade and to insert "myself" into the story without giving myself a Keyblade like most other self-inserts do, so I don't really know if I can. I think that idea of yours about the Gun of Light is nice, although I did base it from the Boktai series.

As for the Chain of Memories Retcon Version, I'll see if I can do that memory loss bit, although their loss rate will be different given…what they really are. The "start to remember what they forgot before they came to Sora's island" bit however, I think I'm liking that.

Bertie: Where in Moltara have you been?

nightelf37: Sorry, Bertie. It's hard work juggling many stories and school. Remember, the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there, or the manga, or the movie where the current world is based on (if there even is), I 'own' it. And here is 'my' current Power Orb inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Esuna, Regen, Haste, Firaga, Thundaga, Blizzaga, Curaga

(skills) Combo Shots, Taiyou

(summons) Requiem, Lumiere (not yet 'activated')

In storage:

(spells) Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Cure, Aero, Gravity, Poison, Silence, Stop, Charm, Confuse, Protect, Shell, Dispel, Fira, Thundara, Blizzara, Cura, Blind, Immobilize, Sleep, Slow, Float, Mini, Petrify, Gravira, Aerora, Stopra, Graviga, Aeroga, Stopga

(skills) Shield Boomer, Sky Dropper, Boomer Blast, Yoyo Shot, Aura Wave, Solar Saber (new)

(summons) Baloo, Bahamut, XR, Flit

Chapter 16A: End of the World (The Journey)

Trivia: In my headcanon, Gregorio's replacement in the Altador Cup, Ethel Boortz, is Ilsa's grandmother.

Part I. Beginning of the End

While our two Gummi Ships took the perilous voyage from Hollow Bastion (which we teleported to via Warp Drive) to wherever Chosen One was leading us, we did a review on our equipment.

Donald, Goofy, and Yoris were already satisfied with their weapons. The girls and I couldn't change ours (Ilsa's being fists and unfortunately gauntlets for her size were not available). Gregorio upgraded his javelin to a better one, though I couldn't see the difference with his previous one. I also obtained the Bahamut Power Orb from Merlin, who had told me I was finally ready to use it. As for Sora, he had acquired a new Keychain (which looked like a gold-and-blue crown), which was made from the Orichalcum we gathered on our journey and a few other items, he changed it for Kairi's charm.

We also checked our accessories, and made sure everything we wanted we were bringing. Chosen One would not be joining us and will be taking the Destiny with him. Sora asked if it would be possible for him to tow the Excalibur to Hollow Bastion as they wouldn't be going back either. Chosen One decided to deny his request.

"Attack with aggression, but always have a plan of retreat," he told Sora. "As long as there's life, there's hope."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"What I mean to say is that I don't approve on this 'all or nothing'. I'm leaving your ship behind on the off-chance you might need it. And that's final."

Finally, we reached our destination. The world ahead was a bit like a ringed planet, except the "planet" was barely solid or even gaseous. Rather, it was like a bright purple light with dark splotches of floating mass forming the "land", almost like a very small galaxy.

"This is as far as I go," Chosen One said. "Good luck."

With that, we knew that it was time to go. Bidding farewell, we made our way to the Transwarp Room, but not before Gregorio secretly pilfered a few of the stuff.

KHKHKHKHKH

Upon landing, the group of eight took in the sight. It was both breathtaking and terrifying. We had 'landed' somewhere just outside a small cave. A swirling mass of stars ahead, and between it and us were lots and lots of islands.

"Fyora help us…" muttered Ilsa.

"Gawrsh, is that all that's left of the worlds taken by the Heartless?" wondered Goofy.

"Looks like it," Yoris replied grimly.

"Those worlds will be restored if we beat Ansem, right?" Sora asked.

"You betcha." Donald agreed.

"But if we do beat him and all these worlds become restored and disconnected, what's gonna happen to this place? And to us?"

Now the duck was stumped. "Well, uh..."

I gulped nervously at this. I knew I should be afraid for my life, but something inside me quelled the selfish part of me. We've come this far. We can't back out now. Not when the entire universe is at stake. "Now that you mention it, that scares me."

"This is a Heartless world, so maybe it'll just disappear," Goofy answered.

"Huh?" we all gasped.

"But no worries. Even if this place goes poof, our hearts ain't goin' nowhere. I'm sure we'll find our pals again. Yup, I just know that we will."

Donald voiced his agreement. And so did Sora. "Yeah, you're right," he said as he took out and looked at Kairi's lucky charm. _I'll return this. I promise._

The rest of us however seemed unsure. Despite everything, we weren't ready to go so far as to sacrifice our lives. We often always had the option to run and recover until then. Now, there was no turning back. This was the final bout. And either we triumph, or we fall for good.

"Now I'm really worried," Florina muttered. "But there's no helping it."

With a resolute step, Sora stepped forward to the light. Goofy was quick to follow. Once it turns out that the blank expanse separating our piece of land from the islands was actually very shallow water, Donald was next. Then Yoris. Then Gregorio. Then the girls. I stuck behind for some reason, still unsure of myself. Florina was quick to notice and she went back to take me by the hand.

"Come on," she urged.

Hearing those words somehow gave me the resolve to go forward. Just as I joined the others, a vortex akin to the one made when casting Gravity emerged from right above and crashed down onto us.

KHKHKHKHKH

"Dammit!"

"Too many Invisibles!"

"I should've known."

The vortex had taken us into a pocket dimension, upon where Heartless attacked us. It was a tad more difficult than any of the Hades Cup seeds from before. Upon defeating the last Invisible, we were suddenly returned, but we were now next to a patch of triangular land that was pointing somewhere like an arrow. There was also a treasure chest on it.

Sora opened it and found a useful item. On looking at the 'island', we saw that it 'pointed' to another small island. We also found out that any attempts to 'deviate' would meet with an invisible barrier. Without much choice, we pushed on.

The next chest was a trap; it took us to another pocket dimension, where we had to fight off Heartless before we could receive its reward and continue on. The one after that however did not have any tricks whatsoever. The one after **that** however was another trap, where we faced off against a Behemoth. Being smarter this time around, we finished it off faster than in our first encounter with it or our encounters with it at the Hades Cup.

Sometimes, even before we reach the chest, a vortex would intercept us and we would be thrown into another battle. The Angel Stars in particular proved to be difficult as hell. Thankfully, the bright light we were headed to seemed to charge my DirLuxGun. And most of the other lights charged Florina's RefLuxGun. I was also thankful for the huge amount of supplies we purchased, for I figured we sure needed every last one of them.

Eventually, we reached the light ahead, and saw that there were a number of fallen stalactites partially buried in the water. Of course, another vortex intercepted us and we battled yet another Behemoth. Upon defeating it however, we weren't taken back to where we were, but to yet another area. It was quite difficult to describe it. It seemed to be some sort of cave, there were threads of light, and there were all sorts of colored triangular shapes. Donald guessed they were most likely Gummi Blocks.

"I wonder where that Ansem feller went?" Goofy wondered.

"Dive into the most dangerous place and we'll find him!" answered Ilsa.

We continued traveling, naturally fighting Heartless along the way, although we were sometimes lucky enough to just help a White Mushroom. There were plenty of twists and turns, plenty of places to jump to, and plenty of times we had to backtrack. It was a nightmare to navigate, especially for me as I wasn't very athletic (which I thought appropriate to point out plenty of times). Eventually, we found ourselves looking down a bright shining hole.

"You think that's where we need to go?" I asked Sora.

"There's no turning back," he answered. Before he could jump in, Gregorio stopped him.

"Hey, why don't we read the read that Report of Ansem's?" he asked. "I mean, I'm sure we got all of the pages, right?"

"Oh yeah." Sora pulled the completed Ansem's Report from my bag. "I guess we should take a look." He then arranged them in numerical order, gave it to me to hold, and we started to read.

KHKHKHKHKH

_Entry 1:_

_Much of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that I am blessed with my people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand._

_I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times. Darkness…darkness of the heart. How is it born? How does it come to affect us? As ruler of this world I must find answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by darkness._

_Entry 2:_

_It is my duty to expose what darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments. Extract the darkness from a person's heart. Cultivate darkness in a pure heart. Both suppress and amplify the darkness within._

_The experiments have caused the test subjects' heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatments produced no sign of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their heart beneath the castle. Some time later I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness. What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?_

_Entry 3:_

_The shadows that crawl beneath the castle…Are they people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something completely beyond imagination? All my knowledge has provided on answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart._

_Fortunately, there is no shortage of test subjects. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts…I will call them the Heartless._

_Entry 4:_

_The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace._

_I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves. Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavioral properties._

_Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them? It's just occurred to me; Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?_

_Entry 5: _

_To study the Heartless behavior, I picked one out for observation. It wiggled its antennae and, as if sensing a threat, headed deep into the castle. In the deepest part of the castle, its antennae began vibrating, as if searching for something. Suddenly, a strange door appeared. I'd never known of its existence. It had a large keyhole but didn't seem to be locked. So I opened the door._

_What I saw on the other side mystified me. What was that powerful mass of energy? That night I observed a great meteor shower in the sky. Could it be related to the door that I have opened?_

_Entry 6: _

_A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the Heartless. It may well be the ultimate goal of the Heartless. But what is that energy? I have devised a hypothesis, based upon my observations of the Heartless. The Heartless feed on others' hearts. There is no proof, but having felt that immense energy, I am certain that was the heart of the world. The Heartless are trying to take hearts not only from living things, but from the world itself. But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?_

_Entry 7: _

_I am now studying material from the meteors that rained down that fateful night. What a find! The material is foreign to our world. It is elastic to the touch and when two pieces are combined they bond easily. None of the records I've scoured even mention such a substance. Was it introduced to this world when I opened that door? I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this world…I wish I could soar off and find out!_

_Could there be uncharted worlds out there? My curiosity never ceases to grow. But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place._

_Entry 8: _

_There is no doubt that the Heartless are deeply connected to people's hearts. Further study may unravel both their motivations and the mysteries shrouding the heart. As a start, I have built a device that artificially creates Heartless. By recreating the conditions that spawn the Heartless naturally, I should be able to produce them artificially. The device is a culmination of all my research thus far._

_The machines test run successfully created a Heartless. This may be a step toward creating a heart from nothing. The artificially and naturally created Heartless showed nearly identical traits. But the two types should remain distinct for the purposes of this experiment. So, I will mark the ones that are created artificially._

_Entry 9: _

_Simply astonishing! Today I had two guests from another world, although appearances imply that they aren't from the same one. One is a young boy who seemed to be mature for his age. The other is a king, and his vessel is built of the material that composed the meteors. The king called the pieces Gummi Blocks. It seems that opening the door has opened a path for interworld travel. We talked for countless hours, but one story in particular caught my interest: that of a key called the Keyblade._

_The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power. One legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says wrought chaos and ruin upon it. I must know what this Keyblade is. A key opens doors. It must be connected to the door I have opened._

_There was another thing of interest, though a bit less so than the Keyblade. The boy had with him a weapon he called the GunDelSol, which was a Gun of Light. From what little he said about it, it's not as phenomenal or legendary as the Keyblade, but it is said to come from some little piece of light that escaped a greater one._

_Entry 10: _

_Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of the stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart. The Heartless desire those hearts. Born of the darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart. Yes, that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts as does the darkness._

_Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there, and become all knowing. My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses, maybe even the Gun of Light if I can. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness._

_Entry 11:_

_Opening the door to a world's heart causes its walls to crumble. _

_These fragments are seen as shooting stars _

_This explains why these "gummi blocks" can travel freely to other worlds. _

_I know the catalyst of this collapse—the appearance of the Heartless. However, it will take time search out the worlds' doors and to retrieve each heart. _

_Furthermore, the doors can be locked using a Keyblade, making the heart forever unattainable. I must take action before the wielder of the key appears in this world. The Gun of Light can wait._

_If the princesses and the Keyblade are connected, they should resonate. _

_I've chosen a girl. I don't know if she holds the princesses' powers, but I will find out. She may lead me to the key bearer. _

_I shall set her free and observe. _

_Entry 12:_

_The body is gone; the heart should have returned to the Heartless. And yet, nothing. _

_This one is unlike any other. Its memories remain and it has yet to take the form of a Heartless. _

_A close eye must be kept on the situation. Much is still unknown. _

_To get to the realm of Darkness, one must go through the doors of Kingdom Hearts, the place where the world's hearts connect. _

_Beyond this world is a place in which darkness reigns. (Details shall be archived in a separate report.) _

_There are many worlds in existence, some of which we know nothing about. _

_The world in which we live. The realm of Darkness. The realm of Light. _

_And the world in between. _

_Wherein lies true nirvana? _

_Entry 13:_

_Where does the body go when it separates from the heart? If the soul remains within the body, is it still considered to be deceased? _

_When the heart returns to the Heartless, the physical form disappears. But that is merely true in this world. Perhaps the body exists in another form in another world. _

_If that is the case, then it is possible for one to exist in two worlds. _

_A being that is neither darkness nor light; belonging nowhere; abandoned by its heart; a mere shell of its former self. _

_The relation between the heart and body is complex. However, I am certain that if your self exists here, then by definition, the other cannot truly "exist." _

_The other, the one which does not exist, shall be dubbed, "Nobody." _

KHKHKHKHKH

I almost dropped the Report after the tenth entry, but managed to hold it until we finished the last entry. Everybody was speechless as we comprehended what he did.

"Dear Fyora…" gasped Ilsa.

"I don't believe it," I said. "All of this is happening because Ansem decided to play God!"

"Hmm…I wonder why this Stickee fellow isn't mentioned here?" Florina mused as she put a finger to her chin.

"Maybe he asked Ansem not to write him in or to erase him from the Reports. Or he entered the picture after the Reports were written."

"We must beat Ansem," Goofy said. "Maybe then, everything will return to normal."

"I sure hope so," I replied as I put away the Report.

"We won't get anything done just sitting here," Donald said and we all nodded back.

"Let's go," Sora declared as he jumped into the white hole. Goofy was quick to follow and so was Donald. The rest of us eventually did so as well, Ilsa holding my hand to provide assurance.

Part II. The World Terminus and Chernabog

When the light faded, we found ourselves inside a green circular chamber, filled with large thorns at the edges. Beyond, we can see pillar-like structures spread over what appeared to be a vast empty space. And we were apparently inside one of those spaces. There were two tiny balls of light, one green and the other blue. A phrase came to my mind and indicated that this was the name of the area; World Terminus.

"Where to, Sora?" asked Florina.

He ran to the blue one, and we followed. We were transported to a different 'pillar', and there was a smaller one swirling with darkness and purple light at the center. We entered that pillar and a bright light blinded us. When it faded, we found ourselves at—

"Traverse Town?" Ilsa gasped. We seem to be at its Third District.

"Could this be how the Heartless get to the worlds so quickly?" I wondered.

And then Shadow, Soldier, and Large Body Heartless surrounded us. We could deal with them easy, but I wanted to try something. Raising the bracer that held one of the red Power Orbs, I cried out, "Lend us your power!"

At the same time, Sora cried out, "Give me strength."

The two crystals glowed in our hold and a force exploded outward, knocking down everyone in the area a little. Beams of light shot out of the floor around our feet and quickly spiraled upward, swallowing me in a spiral of blue light. When the light faded, Lumiere was atop my head, and Mushu was on top of Sora's.

"I am Mushu," the little dragon said.

"Lumiere, at your service," said the candelabra as he gave a short bow.

"I bet I can shoot fire faster than you!" Mushu bantered.

"This is not a contest," Lumiere bantered. "We both help our summoners." With that, he shot a stream of flames from his hand candles, taking down two Shadows. Mushu followed up with a series of fireballs from his mouth, knocking back a Soldier.

Everybody else save for the girls stood back to let the summons do the job, wanting to see what they were capable of, doing just enough to defend themselves and lead the Heartless into the path of the summons. Ilsa and Florina found it quite odd to go easy at a point where you're supposed to be completely serious, especially since they were so close to ending Ansem's machinations.

By the time the summons had to be dismissed, all the enemies were gone. Once that was done, we saw a small red treasure chest in the corner. Sora opened it and took the item, a "Brave Warrior" accessory, which he, Donald, and Goofy had acquired when they fought the Guard Armor for the first time.

"Must be," said Donald. "Some kind of…world nexus."

"That wasn't that hard, but I'm sure Ansem has something much worse than a batch of Heartless to stop us," Sora said.

"Well, with this being the final dungeon, that's a very likely case," I said.

"Final dungeon?"

"Never mind."

"Where to now?" asked Yoris.

"The door?" I pointed to the one that would (normally) take us to Second District. We approached and opened it…and found ourselves back at the World Terminus. Seeing a different blue light, Sora decided to head there. Without much of a guide, we had to follow.

Other pillars led to dark/light pillars leading to versions of some of the worlds we've been to previously, some of those pillars being blue-ish instead of purple. In the Rabbit Hole in the Wonderland area, we battled "Musical Wizard" and Wizard Heartless. In the Olympus Coliseum Gates area, it was Air Soldiers, Wyverns, and Defenders. In a bamboo thicket in the Deep Jungle area, Power- and Bouncywilds. In the Plaza in Agrabah, the Bandit Heartless, both regular and fat variant, In the Calm Depths in the Atlantica are, Sheltering Zones, Sea Neons, and Aquatanks. In Oogie's Torture Chamber in the Halloween Town are, Search Ghosts, Gargoyles, and Wight Knights. And in the Galley in Neverland, Barrel Spiders and Pirates.

Notably, in Atlantica, we assumed our aquatic forms, me in my 'diving suit'. Of course, the girls took appropriate appearances. There, Ilsa's fur became sand-colored and light blue, there were dark green growths on her back and head, her ears were much larger, and her lower half has turned into an 'aquatic' tail. Her upper garments remained however. As for Florina, she was a mermaid, her tail goldenrod, and her seashell bra blue.

In Halloween Town, she was clad in a black catsuit from head to toe, and painted over it and her face were markings that would make her look like a skeleton. As for Ilsa, her appearance was now akin to a devil's. Some of her fur was now yellowish-white, she had black wings on her back, and her tail was now longer and devil-like as well.

After the Neverland pillar, the next one was a green pillar. And it took us to a bright empty meadow. There were no Heartless present, thankfully, and we took the time to rest. I handed everybody one paopu each to serve as a snack. To be honest, I was surprised I hadn't gone hungry or thirsty from all the fighting.

Once we have recuperated enough, we returned to the World Terminus, went to the next blue small light, and found ourselves in front of a red pillar, which I backed away from in fear of getting burned. However, it turned out to be a 'portal' just like the others. On crossing it, we found ourselves in a dark corridor with the Heartless emblem on one end, a portal on the other, and a teal door at one side. The architecture reminded us of Hollow Bastion, but we never actually been at this place.

We encountered Invisibles there, and while it took just a minute to be rid of them, it felt like longer. Once the last of them was done in, the teal door opened, not inward or outward, but like one of those sliding doors.

The room we entered contained a large, mysterious machine with a computer console and five capsules on it hooked up to a tank of unknown liquid. Red, orange and black voids of space dotted this area and the hall behind us. When we inspected the computer, we saw that it held a cryptic message:

_Ones born of the heart and darkness, devoid of hearts, ravage all worlds and bring desolation. _

_Seize all hearts and consummate the great heart. All hearts to be one, one heart to encompass all. _

_Realize the destiny: the realm of Kingdom Hearts. The great darkness sealed within the great heart. _

_Progeny of darkness, come back to the eternal darkness. _

_For the heart of light shall unseal the path. _

_Seven hearts, one Keyhole, one key to the door. _

_The door of darkness, tied by two keys. _

_The door to darkness to seal the light. _

_None shall pass but shadows, returning to the darkness. _

_One born of the heart and darkness, hunger for every heart until the dark door opens._

Just as we finished reading, Invisibles appeared and attacked. "I'm getting tired of this dung…" Ilsa complained.

We finished them off faster than we did last time, even though they were the same number. Once that was done, Sora ran to the portal in the hall. We followed him and soon found ourselves back at the World Terminus. There was no blue light to take next.

"You think Ansem meant for us to go to all the worlds?" Sora asked. Gregorio just smacked him over top the head.

"The only way to find out is to ask him," humored Florina. "Except he won't tell us."

"Where to now?" wondered Donald.

"I think we have to go there," answered Goofy as he turned around and pointed at where the red pillar was.

We all followed his finger and saw that in place of the red pillar was a blue hole. Sora shrugged his shoulders and jumped in. We all followed suit, me holding onto Ilsa.

KHKHKHKHKH

We found ourselves floating in endless space, as if we had pixie dust. Even I was floating, and I felt my feet were light. Below and in front of us seemed to be a gigantic mountain, and something was rising from it.

"No way! Impossible!" Donald yelled as we got closer as that something began to take shape.

"Yeah! I thought the King banished him!" Goofy shouted in agreement.

"What is it?" the rest of us asked.

At the same time, the King's men answered: "Chernabog."

Chernabog was a gigantic, muscular, humanoid demon. His skin was entirely colored black, and he was so large that Ilsa was only slightly larger than his head, which sported two curved horns. He had four fangs in his mouth, glowing yellow eyes, and enormous, black, bat-like wings, which span larger than he was tall. He seemed to be trapped from the knees-down in the mountain.

"Let's take it down!" Donald flew forward.

"Yeah!" Sora shouted and followed quickly. Goofy shrugged and flew forward as well. One by one, everybody else followed suit, leaving me behind.

"Aw, hell," I said as I took out my scooter and got on, then went arter them. Even though I could technically fly without it, it was more like a means of "just-in-case" and self-comfort. It wasn't like a security blanket, mostly because I never had one and because I can and will help others with it.

If it wasn't obvious that Chernabog didn't want us here from the look on his face, it was now when he suddenly swiped out a large claw at us, which we managed to fly over. What he did next was let out a stream of fire—like we have never seen personally—from his mouth and straight at us. Sora and Donald immediately cast Aeroga on all of us and I cast Regen likewise. As for Ilsa, she moved to the front and cast Reflect.

The spell managed to divert the flames away from us, but when the flames faded, the Ixi was not looking good. she seemed to have cast it multiple times and have suffered damage in-between castings. I immediately cast Curaga on her, getting her back into shape. Sora approached her and used an Ether on her.

I could do nothing for her magic reserves though as we were not close enough to give her an Ether and I wasn't very confident in my throwing skills. Sora tossed the Keyblade forward in the form of a Strike Raid and it slammed right into Chernabog's chest. The demon noticed the attack, but didn't so much as flinch.

"Everybody, the head!" I said, hoping it would help. Thankfully, Florina and Yoris were already at it thanks to ranged weapons. Donald was already firing spells as well, mainly Blizzagas. Sora, Goofy, and Gregorio were swift to follow suit, closing in with their Keyblade, shield, and spear ("It's a javelin!"). Ilsa took a bit longer to recover before quaffing an Ether on her own, then charging forward.

Even as we doled out everything we could at Chernabog, even at the head he didn't seem to be affected by it. Maybe we were actually doing some damage, but the fact that Chernabog wasn't reacting at all made that just a "maybe". And that made us wonder if it was invincible.

Thankfully, it didn't seem to be that was as it began to hunch over. _Okay! Either it's not invincible, or it knows how to fake doing so. No, must not think that way!_ Chernabog suddenly rose as if triumphant, causing the volcano he was in to erupt violently. Sora, Goofy, Ilsa, and Gregorio were caught in the blast, the damage dealt to them thankfully reduced by the Aeroga. Yoris, Florina, and I were spared from the attack, with Donald just barely in of the volcano's range and thankfully knocked outside it, but now we couldn't continue striking at Chernabog due to the eruption and could only wait for it to stop before we could resume attacking and start healing.

The moment it did, we cast Curaga, and the battle onward became pitifully routine. Chernabog does a fire breath, it hunches over before erupting the volcano, we dodge/endure and attack while it's doing this, rinse and repeat. Although it sometimes mixed things up a bit by blowing us away with its powerful wings, swiping its claws, and sometimes launching balls of ethereal energy or cosmic fire at us.

In then end, we finally prevailed, but at the cost of a good amount of healing items. Upon delivering the final blow, Chernabog screamed in pain before exploding in brilliant bright blue flames, taking most of the mountain with it. All that remained was the volcano, which was now extinct. With nowhere else to go and the way back sealed off, we all flew down into the crater, me hoping we would be transported to another place.

KHKHKHKHKH

We ended up in what appeared to be a stone hallway. The walls depicted disturbing images of worlds being destroyed, worlds that were familiar to be if only as a distant childhood memory. And the farther we walked, the worse the image got. Finally, we reached a pool of white energy on the floor and hopped in.

Upon emerging, we found ourselves inside a chamber with a glowing floor, the Heartless emblem on one wall…and a freaking Behemoth! I was glad we spent nearly all of our munny on healing items, for we used up quite a lot of them before finally defeating it…and the Darkballs, Invisibles, and Angel Stars. The second Ilsa pummeled the last Invisible with its own sword she stole, the Heartless Emblem was gone, revealing another portal.

"About time!" said the Ixi as she broke the sword with her knee and threw the pieces away as they vanished into darkness.

We all crossed the portal and found ourselves in a small tranquil 'room' that gave off an air of sanctuary. It had three little waterfalls that filled three small ponds. There was also a treasure chest, which contained a Megalixir. On the other side was a door, which we decided not to take yet. Since we figured this would be the last time for a long time we're gonna get a break, we decided to take one here.

"Whew! All this extended fighting can get your muscles sprained," said Ilsa as she washed her face with the water, after verifying that it was safe. It wasn't potable however. I happened to collapse on the floor, dead tired, breathing heavily as I lay on my side. I couldn't lay on my back because of the haversack. "Looks like one of us needs a lot of it."

"It's understandable, given his defensive and ranged fighting style," said Yoris. "Not much moving involved. Donald and I are ranged as well, but we move a lot as well, me because I don't have much in defense, and Donald because he also whacks foes with his staff."

"Hey."

Florina let out a sigh. "Just a few more, and the entire universe will be saved."

We waited for a couple more minutes, recuperating ourselves.

"Why don't we get something to eat?" I then suggested as I finally caught my breath, sat up, and took out paopus and shared them with everybody. Turns out I had enough to attempt to distribute it to plenty of worlds. "Might as well me our…last…"

"Last before we beat Ansem, that is," Sora corrected as he gave a smile and received his paopu. "We'll make it."

"Oh, I see what you're trying to do. Thanks, Sora. There's no way I can believe it's the end after Ansem. I still need to find a way for me to return to my home, as does every one of us."

"I agree," said Gregorio before taking a bite out of his fruit. "Like Kairi, Florina, Yoris, Windelle, and I don't know where we originally came from, but I bet it's a nice place."

I saw thoughtful expression form on Ilsa's face, as if she found something familiar about them. And then I wonder since when was I good at reading faces, because I certainly wasn't back home. And details weren't my strong point either, in fact I was quite clumsy and inattentive.

I hadn't the time to ponder more about this as Sora finished his paopu and went over to the door. Before he could open it, I could hear something. And judging by their reactions, so can Florina and Sora. It was very familiar.

"Huh?" wondered the Keybearer.

"What's wrong?" asked Donald as he finished his paopu as well.

"Don't you hear something? There!"

_Careful. This is the last haven you'll find here. Beyond, there is no light to protect you. But don't be afraid. Your heart is the mightiest weapon of all. Remember, you are the one who will open the door to the light._

"I don't hear anything," said the court wizard.

"Strange... That voice was so familiar. Maybe it's just my imagination."

"Maybe you'd better take a rest!"

"What did the voice say?" Florina asked.

Sora relayed what he heard and she and I gasped in response.

"That's what I heard too!" we both said. The two of us then turned to each other upon realizing we spoke simultaneously. "Really?"

"But why didn't we hear it?" wondered Goofy.

"Perhaps it has something to do with this," Florina suggested as she summoned her RefLuxGun.

"But why the Keyblade AND the Guns of Light?" I mused as I got up. "Is there some sort of connection between them? Or are they both connected to the same thing?"

"No way of knowing with what we know so far from Ansem's Report. Maybe if we survive this, we can try finding answers."

"I guess… Let me just swap my Power Orbs." It took a minute. "All right. Let's go."

Sora grabbed the door handles and pulled them open. Beyond was…the cave Sora, Florina, and I were in where we saw Kairi vanish. The "Secret Place".

"It can't be." Sora made a mad dash to get out of the cave.

"Sora!" Goofy yelled and we all ran after him, only to meet a blinding light that could only come from the sun. We must've been indoor for longer than I thought. When our vision returned, we all save Goody, Ilsa, and Donald gaped at what we saw.

nightelf37: Aaand I decided to pause my story here. I figured I needed to do this so I can rest a bit more. I AM also working on **Shisno Chronicles: Friendship is Magic**, after all. Next chapter will herald the end of **Kingdom Hearts Remake 1: Retcon Version**. Huh. No new journal entries this time. See ya on Third!


	22. Chapter 16B: End of the World

nightelf37: To Gry17, unfortunately for you, I still plan on a 'me' VS Sora, because I can't think of what else 'I' would do. Also, please, please, PLEASE create an account on FF . Net so we can talk more privately. These replies of mine are gonna interrupt (and spoil) the rest of the readers.

Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there, or the manga, or the movie where the current world is based on (if there even is), I 'own' it. And here is 'my' new current Power Orb inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Regen, Protect, Shell, Dispel, Cura, Curaga, Aeroga

(skills) Solar Saber, Combo Shots, Taiyou

(summons) Requiem, Bahamut

In storage:

(spells) Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Cure, Esuna, Aero, Gravity, Poison, Silence, Stop, Charm, Confuse, Fira, Thundara, Blizzara, Blind, Immobilize, Sleep, Haste, Slow, Float, Mini, Petrify, Gravira, Aerora, Stopra, Firaga, Thundaga, Blizzaga, Graviga, Stopga

(skills) Shield Boomer, Sky Dropper, Boomer Blast, Yoyo Shot, Aura Wave

(summons) Baloo, XR, Flit, Lumiere

Chapter 16B: End of the World (The Confrontation)

Part III. First Bout

None of us, save Donald, Goofy, and Ilsa, couldn't believe our eyes.

"Is this... Is this my island?" Sora managed to say.

"It can't be," answered Florina. "It was destroyed."

"This isn't our island," said Yoris. "Just a construct of it, like the fragments of the worlds we passed by in the tunnel after Chernabog."

"This world has been connected," a familiar voice came, and suddenly a small islet of islands disappeared.

"What was that?" Goofy gasped in seeing it happen.

"Tied to the darkness...soon to be completely eclipsed." Another section of the island (half of a bridge) followed. "There is so very much to learn." The ocean then turned purple with darkness. "You understand so little. A meaningless effort." In a shake and flash, the island changed. There were cracks in the sky, as if the entire place had been a dome. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

"There!" gasped Gregorio.

We all turned to where he pointed and we saw Riku and Windelle, who were in the empowered forms they were in when we fought them back in Hollow Bastion. They were standing with their backs to us and near a new cliffside, and soon we were there too as we approached them. Given what has happened, we stayed wary.

"Take a look at this tiny place," the voice spoke again. "To the heart seeking freedom this island is a prison surrounded by water. And so this boy sought to escape from his prison. He sought a way to cross over into other worlds. And he opened his heart to darkness."

The two of them turned around…and transfigured into Stickee and Ansem.

"Riku!" Sora cried out.

"Windelle!" gasped Florina.

"Don't bother," scoffed Ansem. "Your voices can no longer reach them where they are. Their hearts belong again to darkness. All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different."

"Darkness sprouts within it, grows, consumes it," Stickee continued. "Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came." We didn't notice them teleport behind us until we heard their voices from that direction. We instantly turned around to see them with their arms folded in front of themselves. "You see, darkness is the heart's true essence."

"That's not true!" Sora refuted defiantly. "The heart may be weak. And sometimes it may even give in. But I've learned that deep down, there's a light that never goes out!"

The two dark figures rose up a little before Ansem spoke once more. "So, you have come this far and still you understand nothing. Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness!" In an instant, two figures appeared behind them.

They had ink-black, muscular, humanoid forms with a partially bandaged head that hosted relatively human features, baring some resemblance to Ansem. They had yellow eyes gleaming above a mouth filled with sharp teeth, as well as two long antennae spouting from the top of its head. A hole appeared in-between more bandages on the torso in the shape of a heart, much similar to the heart shaped hole that appears in many of the Pureblood Heartless. They lastly had very large hands, their torsos coming to a tail-like point that faded away into their hosts' bodies.

"What is that?!" cried out Yoris.

"This…is the Guardian!" Stickee answered as he summoned his Dark Gun. "Ansem's personal Heartless." And with that, the fight for the fate of all worlds began.

Sora ran straight at Ansem and brought the Keyblade up. He swung it down, but the Guardian appeared in front of him and the attack bounced off. At about the same time, Yoris fired his cannon at Stickee, whose Guardian did the same. And while they did that, I started casting protective spells (Regen, Protect, and Shell).

Ansem held his hands up and razor sharp disks of energy came from them. He launched them right at Sora, but all save one missed. The one that caught him was on the leg and inflicted serious pain. These disks continued on their way to the rest of us and we dodged them with difficulty. I naturally went for a defensive stance, but decided to evade as well once one of them just pierced through. It hurt like a bitch.

As for Stickee, he just shot away with his Dark Gun, which made evading Ansem's attacks all the more difficult. Thankfully, an Aeroga from Donald (and later from me) deflected and reduced the damage of those disks. We then blasted the two with a Firaga spell each, which the Guardians got in the way of, effortlessly blocking them. As soon as the dark protectors went back behind their masters, Ilsa took the chance to deck Ansem and Yoris blasted Stickee with an iceball.

The dark-skinned man wasn't affected much, gave the Ixi a glare, then blasted her away before Sora and Goofy double-teamed him from both sides. The black stick figure on the other hand was pushed back from the blow and found Florina and Gregorio closing in from two sides as well, the former with her "Solar Saber" out. One pair successfully pulled off the attack, and unfortunately, it was Goofy and Sora who failed.

As Stickee endured a graze to the side while his Guardian shielded him from the slash attack, Ansem grabbed the shield-bearing knight by the throat while **his** Guardian stopped the Key Bearer's attack by gripping the Keyblade.

"Don't assume I'm defenseless without my Guardian," sneered the stick figure as he performed a series of point blank shots at the lancer before landing a dark-powered punch to the jaw, sending him flying before crashing to the ground. "I can hold my own even without Ansem, not that I'm foolish enough to leave his side."

"Just what is your relation with that guy?" Yoris asked as he fired at Stickee, whose Guardian managed to grab Florina by the wrists, then punch her in the gut multiple times.

"It is thanks to him that I came to be." He deflected the oncoming iceball while Ansem's Guardian then grabbed Sora with its other hand and brought him in front of its master, who had already dropped Goofy after beating him up. "I owe my existence to him, unlike the other one. He just turned tail after we both came to be."

"What are you saying?"

"Sorry but you'll never know." He fired at the cannoneer, who dodged it just as I decided to go in an attack, performing Combo Shots. He swerved around the attacks as he countered with his own Dark Gun. Unfortunately, while using a 'skill' Power Orb, I am unable to interrupt it by defending and as a result got a lot of hits, which **did** interrupt the skill. Stickee was then struck in the head by llsa, who had cast Cura on Florina (unfortunately using her as a distraction for the Guardian), then pounded him from behind.

Meanwhile, an enraged Ansem was about to turn and blast a recovered Goofy when Sora managed to escape his Guardian's grip and swung his Keyblade at him. The dark man unfortunately managed to duck the swipe, but not a skewer from Gregorio's javelin. Our foes then unleashed a shockwave so powerful it sent all of us flying back. They then pointed at Sora and me as we got up.

"Come, Guardian!" they shouted and their Guardian flew right at us. Upon collision however, they didn't return to their masters and instead went inside us. It was like a chill inside my heart, and I instantly felt fearful and pulled back towards Ilsa to get her back up. She was feeling a bit woozy.

Sora just shook his head and went to try an attack.

"Come, open your heart," Ansem said. All of a sudden, his Guardian appeared from Sora and held him still in the air. He then launched a sphere of energy at him and Sora was caught in it, sending him flying back. Ansem's Guardian then went behind his Master once more as Goofy and Donald got back up. The latter proceeded to cast Curaga on him.

This scared me a bit more. If I were to attack, Stickee's Guardian would bind me, leaving me wide open. The Ixi was back on her feet, and so were the others.

"Ilsa, I got Stickee's Guardian inside me," I said. "You think you can remove it somehow?"

"Sorry, no. I'm a healer, not an exorcist."

"Maybe I should level the playing field," Ansem said to himself and the large tree behind him started shaking. Soon, the entire island shook with it. Then, with a deafening noise, the tree split in half, revealing it to be hollow inside. Ansem smirked and floated back into the tree.

Stickee frowned and said, "Guardian, come out." It was a chilling feeling to have something be pulled out from inside you without it being any of your actual internal organs. The fact that it phased through by body made it more chilling as it emerged from my chest and returned to its master. "You really are weak-willed, it's boggles me as to why the Gun of Light chose you." He then joined Ansem.

Part IV. Darkside Returns

"Let's get him!" Sora said and began to run toward the tree. Florina was quick to follow and, strangely, so was I, and the rest were already following. The three of us jumped through first, but I felt something as I did. It was the Fighter Limit again! The 'flashes' I heard from behind told me that the limit was set to 3 as the others collided into the barrier.

"Dung!" I heard Ilsa swear as we landed on a purple floor. The walls around the tree's "interior" were purple as well. And then the Heartless that had destroyed Destiny Islands appeared immediately after. Ansem and Stickee were nowhere in sight.

"Darkside," the Diary said. "This giant Heartless will devour all around it if left unchecked. The dark homing blasts fired from its chest can be turned back on it with a block. Target its hands or, if possible, its head."

"I don't have time for you!" Sora shouted as he raised his Keyblade. Darkside brought its hand down to squash us, but we jumped away. I was astonished with the reflexes I gained throughout this adventure as Sora ran up Darkside's arm. and slammed his Keyblade into its head, ending the fight before it properly began.

As he landed on the ground, Ansem and Stickee then appeared, hovering above us. I gulped; there was only Sora, Florina, and me to deal with them. As soon as they landed on the ground, Sora charged. Florina did the same with her Gun of Light while I cast Regen, but before I can successfully follow up with Protect, Stickee launched a blast of energy from his Gun of Darkness, knocking Sora to the ground, then called out for "Ansem!" as he went for me.

As I finished the spell, Ansem flew toward Sora and punched him several times before blasting him away. As for his subordinate, he was pushing me back with a series of martial arts maneuvers directly at my shield. His Guardian just stuck behind, its arms folded like a smug observer.

Before we reached the area's wall, he suddenly surrounded himself in a great swell of energy. Somehow, I knew this was a move where blocking isn't the best idea, so I frantically got out of the way as it nearly brushed against my shield, immedately turning around in Stickee's direction because I felt he was going to repeat the maneuver. I was right, and I just barely dodged it before I had to do so again. I couldn't see how Sora was faring, but judging by the grunts, he was faring better than I.

Florina was on the sidelines, providing support fire, and not being attacked, which I felt a bit envious for; constant dodging was seriously not my forte. As I continued barely dodging, I found myself getting dizzy from spinning just to keep Stickee in my sights.

Once the attack finally stopped to my relief, Florina's RefLuxGun produced a blade of energy and she charged at Stickee, who had his Guardian block it. I attempted to fire, but my shots went a bit wild due to my lingering dizziness. Luckily, I didn't end up doing any friendly fire in the process. Unluckily, Stickee returned fire at me while his Guardian made Florina a damsel in distress again by grabbing her by the wrists, forcing her to discard her RefLuxGun.

I was on the defensive, and I was unable to see how Sora was doing with Ansem. I could only hope he was doing better. Florina was kicking at Stickee's Guardian, but it wasn't doing much good. Then, it decided to sink into the ground, letting go of her as it did, slamming her into the ground. As Stickee began to glow orange, dark pools formed underneath us, and I immediately backed away to barely dodge the Guardian coming up from there. As it did that again with Florina, I knew the attack would be extrememly painful for me if I were to get hit and immediately started running.

I cursed myself for not equipping offensive spells as the two of us continued dodging the attacks. Sora was now dodging Ansem's Guardian the same way as well, mainly by jumping forward and rolling. Eventually, the attack ended with both Heartless striking the ground, creating four small one-direction shockwaves each, none of which fortunately hit. Unfortunately, Stickee dashed straight for us, clotheslining Sora, Florina, and when I raised my shield up, he instantly switched to a leg sweep, making me fall on my back as I saw Ansem follow up his servant by punching the Keybearer multiple times, then blasted him again with a dark attack.

As I saw Stickee loom over me, I aimed my gun at him and—just as he did the same—I performed Solar Saber, creating a blade of energy that managed to drive itself into his body, shoving him away from me…in time for me to see Florina jump at him and perform the same move, slashing him with it. I was surprised to see her recover quickly. Then again, it's been only a short time I've seen her in battle, so I wouldn't be familiar with her limits.

I got on my feet, cast Cura on myself, saw Sora handling Ansem, then as I saw my other friend and the black stick figure land on the ground, he ordered his Guardian to enter me once more.

_Dammit!_ I metally screamed as I felt the darkness creep across my skin again. If I were to attack, the Guardian would bind me and Stickee (or Ansem) will have a chance of a free hit. And (as much as I hated to stress this) I probably had the lowest defense without my shield.

I watched as Florina continued to fight Stickee while his master dealt with Sora, who flipped over Ansem's Guardian—who was fulfilling its purpose by standing between them—and sliced into the back of the Seeker of Darkness.

"You fool," Ansem spat out. "I'll show you true power." He began to glow with an amazing orange light. Suddenly, his Guardian was performing that attack again where it would pop up from the ground to strike from below. Much to my irritation, Stickee's hasn't left me yet. However, in spite of never having any sort of moments of clarity in my life, I got one now; only regular attacks trigger the Guardian into binding me.

As the three of us continued to dodge the attacks of Ansem's Guardian (with Florina also having a shootout with Stickee), one of my Power Orbs glowed as I aimed at Stickee, ready to perform Taiyou. I kept running though, as Ansem's Guardian might hit me, interrupting the ability. As soon as the attack was over, I aimed and unleashed a beam of solar energy.

Unfortunately, it was a near-miss with Stickee. Fortunately, it was a clear hit on Ansem. And Sora took this chance to perform Ragnarok, doing the air combo, then finishing with the cluster of energy beams. Ansem screamed in pain as the Guardian returned to him. Meanwhile, Stickee was backflipping away from Florina's attacks before stopping.

"Master!" he cried out, then turned to us. "You will not survive!" A mysterious flash then came out of him, which blinded us.

Part V. The World of Chaos

There was nothing but the void. I couldn't see anybody, not even myself. And then I heard footsteps. _Is this "vision mode" again?_ I thought. I saw that it was, as my eyes caught sight of Riku and Windelle. Their clothes were normal.

"Sora…Kairi… I'm so sorry," Riku was saying. "If only I could see you two again…"

"Forgive me…Florina…Yoris…Gregorio…" Windelle. "When Stickee hijacked me, I…how could I have been so—"

_Windelle, Riku, can you hear me?_, a voice came. It was familiar, but it seemed an eternity since I heard it.

This alerted the two of them and me. "Who is it?" asked Riku.

_Your hearts defeated the darkness, but you lost your bodies._ This voice was different however. And it was more familiar to me. Like I've heard it recently.

_That's why your hearts were left behind on this side of the darkness._ The first voice._ You acquired the other Keyblade—on this side._

"Keyblade?"

_To close the door of darkness from both sides, you need two keys and two hearts._

_And to ensure it remains closed, it needs the help of the four Guns of Light, _the second voice added.

I paused in wondering on this. There are four Guns of Light? If that was the case, then its wielders are me, Florina, Windelle, and…one other. But who was this fourth wielder? It didn't feel likely that they would come after us, so that would mean they were the first.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Windelle.

_Maybe you were destined to come here, just like us, _said the first voice.

Another flash then came, removing me from 'vision mode'.

KHKHKHKHKH

When the light faded, there was nothing but empty darkness all around. Despite that, I was able to see all of my companions, who were now at my side.

"Wha...?" gasped Sora.

"Behold the endless abyss!" Ansem announced. "Within lies the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts!" In the distance, we could see a floating platform with a large pure white double-door that likely led to Kingdom Hearts.

"Look as hard as you are able. You'll not find even the smallest glimmer of light," mocked Stickee. "From those dark depths are all hearts born. Even yours."

And then, out of nowhere, **it** appeared.

**It **was a titanic battleship and easily one of the largest Heartless we have ever seen. It seemed to be almost entirely organic and made of twisted, discolored flesh. Its body was very long and flat on top. Its face was on the front tip of its body, and what seemed to be its main core was located on top of its body towards its rear. The core was covered by a twisted, dark pink cage. On top of this cage were Ansem and his Guardian, now much larger—though still small in comparison to the World of Chaos—and heavily altered in appearance, Ansem given pupil-less gold-orange eyes. Stickee and **his** Guardian were floating nearby, their sizes not having changed.

The gigantic Heartless was colored in a mix of faded pink, cyan, brown, and yellow. Two leg-like protrusions were attached to the underside. The foremost one, underneath the Heartless's face, was long, thin, and triangular. The rearmost one, underneath the main core, was a wide, thin arc. A long, rocky "tail" sprouted from its back.

The face of the Heartless was demonic and sported a long, pointed chin and a bulbous forehead. Its mouth was filled with large, white fangs and its eyes were fairly small, glowing yellow, and surrounded by black rings.

The core of the Heartless was a bulbous, deformed, blue organ covered in violet growths of varying sizes. The most prominent of these growths had a faint silhouette of a skull on it, with the eye sockets, nasal socket, and gaps in the teeth being white. Two smaller growths near the top of this main one were oriented in 45-degree angles.

Around the Heartless were what seemed to be artillery organs. The smaller ones were comprised of two jagged, blue tentacles with blue-white tips that clamp together. They were yellow on the inside and grown from purple bumps. The larger artillery organs were more ornate, being blue with turquoise additives and smoother edges. They were pink on the inside and grown from large, purple bumps with turquoise patterns on them.

"Darkness conquers all worlds!" Ansem shouted. All of a sudden, the 'ground' below us vanished as we were all falling. While Sora, Florina, and I continued falling down, a portal appeared nearby, sucking in the others.

While Florina cried out their names in desparation, I was paralyzed in fear. I was falling fast, and there was absolutely nothing to break it. I couldn't concentrate enough to think about anything else, aside from the fact that I hadn't equipped the Float Power Orb. That tormenting thought ran over and over in my head before I felt something smack me in the face.

I turned, recovered, to see her looking straight at me, holding up the handle of my hover scooter in front of me before pressing the button that would expand its base. Florina and I landed on it and it slowed our fall to a stop.

"Buck up, Rael!" she said as she rode behind me as we got up and I got ahold of the handlebars. "Sora's managed to will himself to fly! Are we gonna leave him to fight them himself or what?"

At this time, I managed to regain enough composure to reply. "N-no." And with that, I cruised us back up with Sora, trying to quell my fear as we successfully rejoined him. I summoned my shield, attached it in front so I can leave one hand free to steer.

"Guys!" gasped Sora.

"Sorry it took a while," said Florina as she put her left hand on my shoulder to brace herself. "But now that we're here, let's finish this, get our friends back, and save the worlds!"

"Got it!"

"So you are prepared to do this the hard way?" Ansem asked as a double-bladed halberd version of Riku's black sword appeared in his hand.

Sora replied by charging forward, ready to lay the smackdown with his Keyblade.

"Welcome to the World of Chaos!" Stickee introduced as Florina and I opened fire, the former at him, who began to teleport around and fire lasers from his Dark Gun. "This is the end!" With my shield in front, I had it tank the hits when we couldn't swerve out of the way. And we kept our distance from Ansem, whose range was thankfully limited thanks to being bound to the giant Heartless.

It was strangely simple, as if Ansem wasn't even trying to put an effort in defeating us. After a while, while Stickee vanished, Ansem was pulled inside his Guardian via the tentacles on his back and a Heartless crest appeared, covering and protecting him. A portal of darkness appeared near the core of the huge ship. When Sora decided to fly right in, I followed suit, not knowing what else I could do outside.

KHKHKHKHKH

We found ourselves in a very dark room, which had only a blue Heartless emblem shining on the floor. The room itself was circular and red with grey edges. They had small yellow spots placed randomly on them and a thin, blue-green, teardrop-shaped additive floating above its tip and below its bottom.

"Watch out," Florina warned. "There are plenty of Shadow Heartless." Both she and I were still on our hover scooter. I cast Aeroga and a shield of wind surrounded us. I saw Sora follow suit as I cruised across the floor, hitting Shadows as we passed.

"Sora. We can't waste time here," I told him.

"You're right." The Key Bearer then raised his weapon high and invoked the Thundaga spell, then did it again, destroying the Shadows. The second time however, a certain flash of a shield came and diverted the attack at more of the shadows.

"Watch where you cast your spells in the dark!" a voice called. "You could easily hit someone who is not your enemy."

"Ilsa?!" gasped Florina.

"Yeah! Right here! Dung, this place sure is dim!"

"How long have you been in here?" I asked.

"Not that long. Just a minute."

Just then, there was a flash, and an orb of energy bound by a sinewy strand appeared in the darkness. Florina aimed her RefLuxGun at it, and shot it, making it explode.

KHKHKHKHKH

The four of us found ourselves flying out of the portal back to where the giant World of Chaos was. Ansem was still behind the Heartless crest and Stickee was nowhere in sight, so we decided it would be best to take out the giant Heartless now. Just then, a small blast went past us and we saw ten pointy bluish things shooting at us like they were artillery.

"We gotta take out those shooters!" Ilsa said.

"No kidding," said Florina as we did so. The blasts were slow and easily reflected and whenever they went for me, they always hit the shield, which I ensured to keep healed.

As soon as all ten 'cannons' were destroyed, a portal appeared just above and we entered it.

KHKHKHKHKH

As we entered the room, we found plenty of Darkballs. As we attacked them, we also heard the sound of a shield bash and balls of three different elements colliding with its targets.

"Goofy! Yoris!" gasped Sora.

"Sora?!" cried out the latter as he continued shooting.

"Yeah!"

"We were gettin' worried!" said Goofy as he bashed a Darkball into oblivion, not noticing another about to attack him from behind were it not for Ilsa smashing **it** in from behind.

"Well don't," assured Florina. "We're back together. All we're missing are Donald and Gregorio. I hope they can hold out until we rescue them."

It took a good half of a minute before a gold orb of energy appeared. Sora obliged me to do it this time and I decided to humor him by shooting it, making it shatter.

KHKHKHKHKH

"Now what do we do?" Goofy asked as we exited the portal. Ansem was still fused with his Guardian and Stickee was still nowhere to be seen.

"The face!" Sora pointed down to the head sticking out and the horrible face on it. He flew down and we all followed.

"Allow me to try something, Sora!" I said as 'cannons' appeared on either side of the World of Chaos. I held out a bracer with Bahamut's Sumon Orb.

"All right."

I focused as I tried to perform the summon. "Lend us your power!"

The red Power Orb glowed and again a force exploded outward. This time, it didn't blow anyone back. Beams of light shot out of the hoverboard's base around my feet and quickly spiraled upward, swallowing me and Florina in a spiral of blue light. When the light faded, I heard a mighty roar.

We turned to see a mighty and not-quite-ancient dragon half the size of the World of Chaos, and it prepared a sphere of energy that began to enlarge. I recognized it to be its signature Megaflare, which was launched at the World of Chaos's face as soon as it was half Bahamut's size.

A great explosion came from the resulting collision. When it cleared, the cannons were gone, and the face's mouth was forcibly opened, revealing another portal. Bahamut was gone too.

As we entered the portal, I heard a deep reverberating voice that could only be from Bahamut. I also felt quite winded too. _Your heart is not that strong, but it is pure enough. You're allowed to summon me only one more time. You are not ready to use my power so freely._

KHKHKHKHKH

This was probably the most dangerous dark room we've been in as it was filled with Invisibles. Already, we saw a slew of fireballs, lightning bolts, ice shards, and gravity vortexes in action.

"Donald!" called Goofy.

"About time!" the court wizard shouted as a Thundaga hit the ground a little bit away from them.

"Took your sweet time, huh?" snarked Gregorio, apparently irritated from the length of time as he twirled his javelin at the Invisibles.

"Not really," said Yoris. "The moment they got out after rescuing me and Goofy, Rael summoned this huge dragon to blast their way into where you were."

"Wait. Huge dragon? Are you talking about that Bahamut guy Merlin did not want him summoning?"

"He allowed him now, remember? Only two uses, though."

Two minutes later, the Heartless were gone and a red orb of energy appeared. This Sora promptly sliced.

KHKHKHKHKH

As we exited the portal and returned to the World of Chaos, we saw the force field protecting the large dome disappear. Still seeing Ansem 'alseep', we decided to head there. However, we would get a surprise upon arrival. Aside from some bluish cannons and the shining blob we likely had to destroy, Stickee was there waiting.

"I'm sorry, heroes, but I cannot allow you to continue," he said before firing his Dark Gun at us. Since I was in front, I tanked the shots with my shield as I ducked behind it. A Reflect spell from Ilsa sent some of the shots back at him, giving the others time to attack him and the blob. The Ixi also took the time to grab the black stick figure in a headlock. Unfortunately, she forgot that there was no gravity here and once again she was thrown off.

It was a very chaotic fight and at one point Stickee managed to pull Florina out and attempted to strangle me. I was rescued by a curve-iceball that nearly knocked him off. My struggling eventually made him let go, in addition to a thrust attack from Gregorio. A shield bash from Goofy made the core explode, ending our 'task' with it, except Stickee wasn't done. He began float-strafing around the dome, shooting at us. It was hard to hit him since he was black like the dark void everywhere.

"Somebody has to take care of Ansem," Florina whispered. "The rest of us will have to stall Stickee."

It was decided that Sora and I would deal with Ansem once and for all. After Sora hopped onto my hover scooter, I 'floored' it, shield in front as Stickee seemed to prepare to intercept me regardless. A few shots from Florina and a Firaga from Donald forced him to swerve away, allowing us to pass through.

He tried to pursue us, but a thunderball from Yoris made him spaz long enough (a fraction of a second) for Gregorio to nearly skewer him, turning his attention to them.

KHKHKHKHKH

The two of us reached Ansem to see that he was back in action, the Heartless crest no longer covering him. "This is the end!" he shouted and began to gather energy for some kind of attack.

"You bet it is!" Sora flew straight for Ansem but the large arm of the Guardian knocked him away. And then all of a sudden we couldn't breathe. His windpipe felt like it was being crushed and he saw Ansem with his hands outstretched. He was choking us from a distance.

"Face it." Ansem moved closer to us and prepared a black hole that sucked us in. I could tell it was reaady to blow up somehow, taking us down. "You can't beat me."

"Maybe not us alone," Sora muttered as I focused on summoning Bahamut and saying the invocation.

"No more wasting time! Bahamut!" I cried out as I extended the arm with the Power Orb, doing my best to ignore the choking. It glowed and again a force exploded outward, pushing him back and interrupting his attack. Beams of light shot out of the hoverboard's base around my feet and quickly spiraled upward, swallowing me in a spiral of blue light. When the light faded, I heard a mighty roar behind us.

It was Bahamut, who was a long distance away, and he already had a Megaflare ready. Ansem made a move to interupt the attack, but Sora launched a Firaga spell to prevent that from happening. He was then also stopped by some Combo Shots from me as I pulled away. Sora folowed suit as the Megaflare was launched.

It made contact and it resulted in a humongous explosion. "No! This can't be!" Ansem shouted as the World of Chaos was slowly breaking apart, more explosions coming out from it.

Even as Bahamut disappeared, I heard him say, _Farewell, warrior. May you be stronger if we ever cross paths again._ I also saw the Power Orb for summoning him vanish from the bracer. I was sad to see it go, but I figured it was for the best.

Inside the dome where we left the others behind, Ilsa was just finished hurling Stickee towards where the core was before getting herself and the others out as the explosions reached their location. They shortly made their way to us and we prepared ourselves for the big one.

It soon came, and it was, for lack of a better term, spectacular, even as we were engulfed by it. When it cleared, we all 'stood' before the beaten Ansem, who was back to normal with his Guardian gone and clutching where his heart should be. Stickee was also floating there unconscious. For some reason, the explosion that destroyed the World of Chaos didn't hurt us at all, which was a good thing since all I wanted to do now was go to a safe place and rest.

"We win, Ansem," Florina said simply.

"It is futile," Ansem said weakly. "The Keyblade alone cannot seal the door to darkness." He then turned toward the white double-door. "Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness!" The doors opened just a little bit, letting darkness pour out from them. "Supreme darkness!"

"You're wrong!" Sora shouted. "I know now, without a doubt. Kingdom Hearts…is light!" As if answering Sora's call, the doors burst open all the way and the purest light we had ever seen emerged from it, illuminating Ansem and Stickee.

The humanoid Heartless gasped in disbelief. "So…lights?! Bu… but why? So warm…"

Stickee on the other hand just grunted in pain as the light seemed to erode his entire body. As for Ansem, a light exploded from within him and he was soon gone.

Part VI. Closing The Door

The light from the door soon died down, and revealed it to be slightly opened. We all ran forward and landed in front of the doors as we tried to push them closed. Unfortunately, the doors were far too big and progress was worse than sluggish. Donald and Goofy took one door and Sora took the other as they struggled to push them back together.

"Oh no!" Goofy gasped as he looked beyond the door.

"Stop staring and keep pushing!" Donald shouted at him, but couldn't help it and took a look himself. as the others looked beyond, they could see thousands of thousands of Heartless all with their eyes turned on us.

"The Heartless!" everybody except Sora and me creamed.

"Hurry!" Donald doubled his efforts but neither part of the door would budge.

"I can't…" Sora was about to give up in this impossible task.

Just then, a black-gloved hand grabbed the door from the other side. "Don't give up!" Another hand did the same, and we looked to see Riku and Windelle attempting to pull the door closed. "Come on Sora! Together we can do it!" he shouted and Sora nodded to him as he pushed harder. Behind the two on the other side then emerged, not one, not two, but three Darksides arose from the depths.

"It's hopeless!" Donald yelled as one of them reached past the doorway and grabbed the closest of us through; Ilsa. The Ixi screamed as she was pulled 'inside', her arms trying and failing to keep her on the other side.

Just then, three two golden blasts came form nowhere. Each blast hit a Darkside and the three of them exploded, the one holding Ilsa dropping her to the ground. And then two figures appeared, surrounded by a great golden energy, and on the other side.

"Your majesty!" Donald and Goofy both shouted. Sure enough, standing before them was a very familar figure. Short stature, large round ears, long slim tail, it could only be Mickey Mouse, and it seems that here he was a king. And in his hand was a Keyblade similar to Sora's 'basic' one prior to any Keychain placement.

"Now Sora, let's close this door for good," Mickey said.

"Who is that?" asked Gregorio, looking at the other one.

The other figure was less identifiable due to the darkness, only that he wore primarily orange clothing, was a blond, and on his hand was a gun similarly shaped to mine, Florina's, and Windelle's, but colored red.

"I am Django, the Solar Boy," the boy answered Gregorio. "The first wielder of the Gun of Light."

"Close it quick!" Donald screamed.

"But…" Sora looked to the ones on the other side. "How will you get out?"

"Don't worry," Mickey turned to face us and the golden energy went away. "There will always be a door to the light."

"Sora, you can trust King Mickey," Goofy assured him. But the Key Bearer was still debating to himself.

Django took from his pocket what seemed to be a note card and hurled it toward us through the door and Florina caught it. "That will tell you what you need to know about it. I wish I could tell you more, but it looks like that'll have to wait for another time."

Ilsa meanwhile looked at Windelle, and suddenly it was as if she finally recognized something. "Oh, Fyora. I can't believe I didn't see it until now!"

"See what?" asked Yoris.

"You, you, you, and you!" She pointed at him, Gregorio, Windelle, and Florina. "You're the missing teammates I've been looking for!"

Windelle was confused. "Teammates?"

Florina was confused, too. "Teammates? But we all first met you at Hollow Bastion."

"No. We met long before that, but you lost your memories when you came here to these worlds!"

"Wait, how did you know about that?"

"Because I was there when you were sent off to…I can't remember the name… something Island…"

"Destiny Islands?" Windelle guessed.

"Yes, that's it! What can you remember?"

The GunDeLuna wielder shook his head. "Nothing, only that we came for a purpose."

Wait a second! 'We'?" Yoris then asked.

"Me and two of our teammates!" Ilsa replied. "We followed right after, but we got lost in transit! I don't know where they are now, but I sure hope they're okay!"

"Hurry, they're coming!" Riku shouted as he saw the Heartless start to crawl ever closer.

"Donald, Goofy, thank you," Mickey said as he lowered his Keyblade. Sora's eyes met that of his best friend who had.

"Take care of her," Riku said and Sora nodded as tears came to his eyes.

"Come on, Ilsa!" cried out Florina, telling her to go through the door.

The Ixi turned away. "I'm staying. The doorway's too narrow for me to pass through by now, anyway. I know you guys are safe with Rael and Sora, but I need to make sure the same goes for…" She turned to look at Windelle.

"We'll keep her from falling to the darkness," Django assured. "You can count on us."

And then the door was finally slammed closed. A flash came to indicate that it canoot be opened again by us. Sora summoned his Keyblade and aimed it upwards, and starry lights began to manifest on the tip. Florina and I aimed likewise with our Guns of Light. Presumably, King Mickey, Django, and Riku did the same. The Door then slowly disappeared into light. Once it was gone, I collapsed on my back, fatigue finally catching up to me. As Sora ran off somewhere, I saw Florina read the note Django gave before passing it to me.

"Long ago, small fragments of light from Kingdom Hearts that managed to escape. Four of them became the Guns of Light. Their purpose is to serve as the Keyblade's guardian, and reinforce its power. That's all I can provide you for the time being."

After reading it, I lay down, the note still in my hands, and closed my eyes, thinking to myself that we all deserved some rest after this. Even though we probably still have some things left to do (find Riku and the others, expect Xin's return, etc.), we needed a break after saving the worlds from Ansem.

nightelf37: I was going to continue, but to keep with my previous work, I have to stick with the chapter number. I skirted around it with Specials and This Part A and B, but I'd like to stick with this, if that's all right. The Chain of Memories Retcon Version will have the Basement story running _alongside _the 'main' one instead of separately like before. See ya on Third!


	23. Chapter 17: Whatever Comes Next

nightelf37:I apologize with how rushed this seemed to be, but I wanted to get on the Chain of Memories part when I can, not to mention having other stories at work.

Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there, or the manga, or the movie where the current world is based on (if there even is), I 'own' it. No Power Orb inventory this time, given that this is the last chapter, and the fact that it's incompatible with the Chain of Memories setting, though I'll see what I can do about that, if you even care.

Chapter 17: Whatever Comes Next

Images were showing up in front of me, a lot of them were of me in my journey, my companions, Sora's time in Traverse Town before meeting up with Donald and Goofy, their first encounter with a Guard Armor, things like that.

_Must be vision mode again,_ I thought as these images then ceased before turning into…'scenes', for lack of a better term.

The first scene was of what was apparently Disney Castle, if only for the fact 'I' saw Minie Mouse and Daisy Duck as royals. Chip and Dale were there, trying to catch their attention and when they did, 'I' saw Donald's newphews running towards them, followed by brooms with arms carrying buckets.

The scene then changed into one where Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith were at the library. They turned their attention to…Cid, who had Cloud, Barret, Irvine, Zell, Quistis, and Rinoa.

Aerith walked toward and staring at Cloud intently, Rinoa ran into Leon, embracing him tightly. "Thank Hyne you're safe, Squall!" Tears ran down her cheeks as Barret just stared in disbelief at Aerith. But then Leon pushed Rinoa away. "Squ…all…?"

"Who are you?" Something in Rinoa's mind shattered as she looked at him in despair.

"Squall, what are you saying?" Zell asked. "Come on, you're not exactly known for a sense of humor, however bad."

Leon looked at the others, and repeated his question. "Who are you?" This rendered the other SeeDs shocked.

Irvine thought, _Oh no. Something must've happened to Squall's memories. But how do we get them back? Assuming this is even the Squall we know…_

To my irritation, putting side the fact that I heard the gunslinger's thoughts, the scene changed into one where I saw Pinocchio, now a real boy, and Geppetto in their shop. The latter was laughing with joy.

The scene then changed into one of Aladdin and Jasmine embracing and kising eaach otheer. Abu and Genie were peeking before the latter covered the former's eyes. He did the same, but then decided to take a peek.

The scene then changed into one where the Destiny landing at the shore of Destiny Islands and when it opened, out came Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka and just outside the doorway, there was Chosen One.

The scene then changed again into that of a ballroom (presumably that of Hollow Bastion) where the other five Princesses of Heart were dancing.

Finally, the visions ended and I was 'awakened' by Sora. I got up, and found us in an endless field with a single dirt road that seemed to go on for miles.

"Well now what do we do?" Donald asked as everybody started walking. I noticed that he and Goofy were wearing different clothes.

"We have to find Riku and King Mickey," Sora said.

Yoris added, "Don't forget Windelle, Ilsa, and Django."

"But where do we start look for that there door to the light?" Goofy brought up the question on all our minds. We all stopped, and then hunched over with a sigh.

"I want to go home," I moaned. Just then, a certain tan-colored dog crossed our path.

"Pluto?" Donald asked.

"Hey Pluto! Where've you been?" Goofy walked closer and saw a slip of paper in Pluto's mouth. It was a letter with a certain symbol on it. "Gawrsh, that's the King's seal!"

"Hey, have you seen King Mickey?" Sora took a step forward and Pluto began running down the dirt road away from us, apparently leading the way. "Guys, let's go!"

And that's what we did. I took out my hover scooter and went after Sora. The fight against Ansem was over, but it looks like we all have a long way to go before our journey truly ended.

-Kingdom Hearts Remake 1: Retcon Version ends here. Up next: Kingdom Hearts Remake: Chain of Memories: RetCon Version, though it'll probably be shortened due to limits.-

nightelf37: See ya on Third!


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